Breaking Through
by CuRsEd
Summary: AxS --One night, Seras 'meets' another vampire and he tries to sudbue her to his command. Will Seras succumb to him or will she prevail? And what can Alucard do to help her? Rating for language and situations.
1. One Hell of a Night

Disclaimer: Hellsing does not belong to me. In fact, I should sue THEM because I couldn't catch some zzz thanks to this GREAT fanfic that suddenly popped in my head at midnight. Buuuuuuut, I must say thank you for creating such an interesting anime.

A/N: Just to warn you, I've only recently got to know Hellsing and so, in this story, there is no REAL precise time in which it will develop in. Also, I haven't read the entirety of the mangas (nor saw the anime, mind you) so if there are some things bugging you, please, PLEASE be indulgent with me. As for the rest, enjoy!

Breaking Through

Chapter 1: One hell of a night

When she woke up, it was to a world of pain. What was wrong with her? Wasn't she supposed to be tucked safely in her coffin? Warm and comfortable?

With a moan, she opened her eyes. The first thing that jumped to her eyes was the fact that she wasn't in her room but pressed, no, _pinned_ to a tree. But something that really made her realize she wasn't home was the knife, two actually, imbedded in each of her hands. As she tried to move, pain shot up through her body and she immediately stopped. Craning her head to see her back the best she could without hurting herself, she felt and saw the multitude variety of sharp, dripping red knives. She was well aware her feet weren't touching the ground, dangling in the air instead, her weight being supported by the massive weapons plunged deep within her body.

She rested her forehead against the rough bark and tried to steady her breathing. Now was not the time to panic, she needed a rational mind and think of how she had gotten herself in this mess. Though, the increasing pain each time her chest heaved for air didn't help her concentrate. It's not like she needed to breathe she was already dead. It was just out of habit.

A chuckle made its way into her ears. She stiffened at the sound of it. She only knew it recently but she already hated it.

"Oh my," said the deep masculine voice, "it looks as though you fell unconscious. That shouldn't have happened. It is so boring to play alone, don't you think? Well, that's not going to happen twice, police girl. Is this how he calls you?"

Soft steps could be heard and before she knew it someone was next to her, grabbing her blond hair to turn her head harshly around to face her aggressor. Her view failed her at the sudden movement, but, after a few seconds, returned to normal. Her eyes widened.

"Y-you!" Seras stuttered through pain.

_Now_ she remembered. He was the man, vampire, or whatever he is who attacked her during her stroll! Of course, it was another thing to add to her already bad day.

It started right at the moment she had cracked open her eyes this night.

_--Flashback--_

_Flipping open her coffin, she got out. Or at least, tried to. She was still half-asleep and her judgement was a little off. She tripped, desperately hopped on one foot to regain her balance (and miserably failed), slipped on the few steps that permitted access to her bed and crashed on the cold hard floor._

_"Ugh, I should have known something like that was bound to happen…" she whined._

_Ever since she had been transformed into a vampire it became harder for her to get up after the last ray of the sun had disappeared. Sure, she had never been a morning person back when she was still human and far from her the thought of real vampires roaming the streets for new flesh to feed on. _

_At first, she had slept on her bed at irregular hours, only crashing in her new room whenever she was exhausted and when she wasn't on a mission. Shifting from a daily routine to a nocturne one isn't easy. Then, courtesy of Integral, she was provided a coffin fit for a creature like her. She had trouble adjusting to such a small area to sleep in. Try to get used from a queen-sized bed to a small rectangle. Unable to sleep due to her being uncomfortable, she only had the chance to catch some rest partially during the transportation of troops, in-between missions and in the wooden chair of her room. That's what she called a messed up schedule. No wonder why she was so tired!_

_Dusting herself off while grumbling angrily, she finally noticed the presence of her master. The bond between master and student reacted and she immediately acknowledged his presence._

_"Ma…" she cleared her throat, "Master."_

_She shifted uncomfortably in his presence and self-consciously ran a hand through her messy hair in an attempt to tame it. She was still, after all, in her pajamas, which consisted of an army tank top and some black feminine boxers. She may be a vampire but she wasn't an exhibitionist!_

_She suddenly felt a pang of embarrassment flow through her. If he was standing there the whole time then that means… He had seen her fall! Great, just great! As if she needed another lecture about always being alert and being laughed at._

_Sheepishly, she looked under her bangs to see his reaction. As expected, her wore his usual smirk along with his big hat and those annoying glasses. She could never read his expression completely with these on. Not that she ever understood him…_

_"I've never seen any clumsier vampire than you, police girl. I almost regret taking you in my care…" he stated calmly._

_Seras was FAR from being calm herself. Just WHAT did he mean by that? You could see her body trembling out of anger and the strain she used to control her first impulse, which consisted of wiping that smile off his face with a jaw-crushing punch. That is, if she could reach him. He was too fast for her. She was only a low-class vampire and didn't have much experience in the battlefield. Sure, she had been in many situations in her police days but she could never bring herself to hurt another. That's why they always called her kitten…_

_She could just shoot herself for starting thinking about them! Shaking the thoughts out of her head, she returned her attention to her master._

_Ignoring his last sentence, she smoothly asked, "What do you require of me, Master?"_

_"It seems we already have work for tonight. There is a briefing for the next mission in about fifteen minutes. We will see ourselves there…" and with that he disappeared into the wall._

_She thought she could faintly hear him muttering darkly, "I am no delivery boy, why couldn't they have sent someone else?"_

_Seras felt strangely sad. She already knew why… People were afraid of her. Her abnormal eyes were mostly the reason why humans stayed away from her. Red, the color of blood. Only a few of them could actually stand to be in her presence without being intimidated. Sir Integral, Walter, Pip and some soldiers from his squad, that's it. Hell, even __ANDERSON__! Though she's the one being intimidated (and he did almost kill her)…_

_A flash of red interrupted her round of sadness and a gnawing in her stomach indicated the need for it to be filled. She turned around to see the medical blood lying there in a bowl of ice on her desk, tempting her hunger. Biting her lower lip, she decided to skip breakfast (or whatever you'd want to call it since it is night) and settled for dressing up._

_The task done, she went to the briefing room._

_  
  
****_

_The soft humming of the truck woke her up. Stretching her limbs a little, Seras supported her head with her left hand and noticed the empty seats around her. Had they lost all that much soldiers? No… they were just cramped in the far end of the vehicle, away from her. Working on an empty stomach didn't turn up to be a good idea. Really not a good idea. She had a major headache and felt weak in the knees._

_Her__ and the selected squad were just on their way back to headquarters. The mission was judged too easy for Alucard and they decided to keep him in case something bigger happened, unfortunately for him who was bored to the bone. They only sent her instead so they wouldn't have an enormous amount of casualties on their hands._

_Well, the jackass she had to kill turned out to be a real pain in the ass, as he never stopped making crude comments about her. The guy was a real pervert. But she was getting ahead of herself._

_When they reached destination, they marched at the entrance of a forest somewhere on the continent (she hadn't paid attention to the details) and, as usual, they had to fight through a good amount of ghouls to reach the source. Easy. Load Halconnen, crouch, aim, and fire. There goes most of the zombies, oh, and a good part of the trees too._

_Going ahead to reach the target, she left the rest of the soldiers to fight for themselves. They were mostly there to buy her some time and so she wouldn't be attacked from the rear. Whoops, ghoul at __twelve o'clock__. Go for the heart, green liquid spurting on her face and then turning to dust. No more ghoul._

_Finally, she reached a small abandoned shack. He must be in there waiting for God knows what. Deciding against simply blowing up this pitiful excuse for a house (she at least wanted to vent her frustrations by pummeling something to death), she busted the main door with her right leg, balancing her cannon on her shoulders so she wouldn't fall. Ta-da! And one crazy-looking vampire coming right up!_

_"What? How did you get here in such a short span of time? The carnage only started two minutes ago!" he shouted._

_Stopping to analyze him, Seras almost snickered at the poor guy. He was…well, short. He was so pathetic even the author didn't want to describe him._

_Suppressing the urge to laugh, she responded, "Sorry, I do this every night and I…"_

_"Wait, wait," he cut in, "are you a vampire? Damn, I'm so lucky! Hey baby, wanna go for a ride? You know, with this kind of body you could…"_

_He didn't get the chance to finish his sentence since a powerful force sent him crashing headfirst through the wooden wall. Seras, legs spread widely apart, panting heavily, stood there with her fist in the air, Halconnen forgotten on the dirty floor. What did he think she was here for? A quick lay?! She was sent here to kill him, damn it!_

_He emerged from the planks, dust rising in the air to create a light screen between them. When the particles settled on the ground, she remarked a change in his demeanor. Okay, maybe in his face too. Due to the force she had used when punching him, his jaw was moved three inches to the left. He casually snapped it back to place as if his mouth kept doing this to him every evening when he woke up, a normal occurence._

_"Well, princess," she bristled a little at that, " it seems as though you don't like my ideas. I _dare _you to try that again," he smirked._

_"You're asking for it!"_

_Unwittingly, she lunged at him with the intention to kill. When she was sure she was going to make contact, he disappeared with a gust of wind and the next thing she knew she was on her stomach with someone on top of her, arms crushed under one of his powerful hand. His shortness turned out to be an advantage, he was faster than her._

_"What the…! HEY, get off of me, you bloody swine!!" she yelled at him while struggling._

_"If you think I'm going to do that you are sorely mistaken, princess. You know, it's been so long since I last touched a woman. Well, just a week actually, but it seems so much longer then that…" he proceeded to roam his free hand on her neck._

_Seras stiffened. She felt weak. She really regretted not taking that medical blood tonight. She had to break free she thought frantically. Where was her cannon? She scanned the area but found no trace of it. That's right… she lost her temper at his taunt and dropped it so she could hit him. How stupid of her!_

_He interrupted her thoughts when he laughed out of pleasure. The hand now moved lower and lower, tracing her forms until he reached her butt._

_"No… No, not that! Please, stop!" she begged miserably._

_He bent a little so he could speak directly into her ears, "I prefer women with long hair but I guess I can't be too picky. Besides, your ass makes up for it… Round, firm and soft… just the way I like them…" with that, he squeezed it._

_She doesn't really remember the rest. She only knows that something snapped inside of her. She had flashes of blood, yells and her own voice stuck in her head saying the same thing over and over with a sickening screech at the end._

"Say hello to your mother for me, scum." A scream of anguish followed.

_When she regained possession of herself, she was sitting in a pool of blood. She doesn't know how long she sat there but it was long enough to hear soldiers searching for her. She numbly stood up with a disgusting 'whoolsh' with all the red liquid dripping from her clothes and started walking back to the truck absently, picking up Halconnen on the way._

_Her pupils must've been a mere dot lost in the red sea of her iris because people looked at her as though she had just emerged from the depth of Hell. Or maybe it was just the blood on her hair and face. She thought she could faintly hear herself saying to the man in charge that the target had been eradicated and then climbed in the transportation vehicle waiting alone for it to depart._

_And there she was, a towel draped across her shoulders smeared, drenched, with blood. She hadn't felt the urge to drink it now that she thought about it. She probably just shredded the guy into tiny bits of flesh and was too repulsed by his actions to allow a single and tiny drop of crimson down her throat._

_The tires screeched to a stop indicating the end of the trip. Unbuckling her seat belt, Seras marched directly towards the captain._

_"I think you should fill the report, sir. I am not feeling well." She said wearily._

_The man nodded his head vigorously and rushed outside. She sighed and went to her room for a change of clothes, ignoring all the weird looks she got as she walked in the corridors. Walter even managed to intercept her, asking about what had happened. He seemed a little worried. She just shrugged her shoulders and shooed him away._

_Closing the door behind her, she looked on the desk only to see a second pack of blood with more ice. She hasn't consumed anything since the beginning of the night and still won't be taking anything. Besides, she'll save them for another time, right? Yeah, that's right… she's just…saving it for later._

"Say hello to your mother for me, scum." A scream of anguish followed.

She rubbed her temple to help ease the headache that had settled there. Removing her fingers she saw the blood on them. Was it hers or his? Had she hurt herself without knowing it? That would explain her pain, but she didn't really much pay attention to it.

_A small red pool had formed around her feet. Shower. Yes, a shower would be most appreciated. The splattering noises didn't bother her as she walked, mostly because she was still in shock. Or maybe it just didn't really bother her, after all, she was no longer a kitten… She let out a bark of laughter mixed with amusement and bitterness. Which one was real, she didn't know, she didn't care._

_Inside the shower, she let the burning water scald her pounding head, the pain making her forget temporarily how she had gotten it in the first place. She just didn't care anymore…_

__

Seras was now refreshed, pain-free and clean. She was also on her knees, wiping the floor free of stains. During her little trek back from the bathroom she had noticed her mess. Walter had enough on his hands and so, she had decided on cleaning it herself since she was responsible. As usual, the passers-by gave her the look. Blatantly ignoring them, she only scrubbed harder.

_"Miss __Victoria__!"___

_Pausing in mid-scrub, she saw Walter staring at her in bewilderment. She'd be staring too if Integral suddenly decided on cleaning her office which was worst than a battlefield._

_"Hello, Walter!" she tried to sound cheery, "Don't worry, I'm almost finished."_

_"P-please stop. You shouldn't be doing this!" he sounded embarrassed._

_"I did this and I will clean it," she stated firmly._

_"Let me at least help you, it is my duty as the butler of Hellsing and you just came back from a hard assignment, you must be tired…" he shot her a look of sympathy. So he has heard of what has transpired only three hours ago. News travel fast…_

_"I'm sure you have better things to do like helping Sir Integral and besides, I'm almost finished," she nodded towards the six remaining bloody footsteps disappearing under her bedroom door._

_"Well, if you insist," he said, still uncomfortable with the idea, "I'll just change the water for you."_

_When he returned, he found her sitting on the floor, gazing into emptiness with a face devoid of emotions._

"Say hello to your mother for me, scum." A scream of anguish followed.

_Seras blinked away the burning of her eyes and shifted her attention to Walter._

_"You know," he started softly, "whenever I feel overwhelmed or if I only want to relax, I usually take a walk in the park near headquarters. It always makes me feel rejuvenated afterwards," he chuckled, "and an old man like me needs all the strength he can get!"_

_She smiled a real smile, her fangs poking a little at the corners of her lips, "That's a good idea, thank you Walter."_

_--End flashback—_

When Seras got there, she was ambushed by this creep, whose face was more or less hard to describe because of her fuzzy eyes, got daggers plunged into her back as a welcome present and had endured so much pain in a short amount of time that she fainted. _Note to self: remind Walter to never give her any more advice!_

She was jolted out of her mind when one of the knives started twisting painfully into her flesh.

"Weren't you listening to me?!" came the angry voice.

"Sorry, your little speech was so boring that I probably lost myself in my own thoughts," she replied weakly.

His face contorted into a twisted sneer. Despite her predicament, she found the strength to laugh at him, but it was cut short as he flung his fist into her unprotected side. She coughed blood onto herself and she would have passed out if it weren't for that hand slapping her cheeks.

"Poor, poor girl… It isn't polite to leave guests unattended. Here's a little something to help you stay awake."

His mouth was instantly onto hers, licking the remnants of her blood away. She struggled the best she could to no avail and suddenly felt something solid pass between her lips to the back of her throat. Her body reacted automatically and she couldn't resist the urge to swallow. To her relief, he finally pulled away but not without giving her a final lick.

As if reading her mind, he answered, "This small pill's duty is to keep you from fainting. To my great pleasure only."

He reached for what she believed was another knife and he slowly cut the back of her thigh. Seras screamed for all she was worth and tears of pain threatened to fall at the corner of her eyes.

"Oops," he shot her a look of false concern, "Did I forget to mention it enhances the pain up to the three times? Details always seem to escape my mind, I deeply apologize, police girl."

"Well…none…accepted…prick," she spat pathetically in his way.

Her thoughts wandered to Alucard, desperately searching for some kind of hope to cling onto. Where was her Master? Isn't he supposed to save her in times like these? He always did whenever she was in a bad fix… What was so different from all the other times? She gritted her teeth as another wave of pain rocked her body. And when had it gotten so cold? Last time she checked, temperature hasn't ever bothered her. She was repulsed by her weaknesses but she only had herself to blame since she hadn't drunk the blood. Who would have thought she'd be assaulted twice tonight? She was feebler than a wounded sheep.

The man viciously grabbed her by the roots of her hair and slammed her forehead against the tree repeatedly, literally shaking the daylights out of her. When he finally let her head roll back she saw the huge bloody dent it made on the tree and her already throbbing headache became a severe migraine. She thought it was surely going to burst any moment now. Amazing how she was still awake. That pill of his works wonders. Sure the pain was tremendous but it worked. What the HELL was she thinking? It probably messes with her mind too.

He leisurely picked up her thoughts because after a couple of whacks here and there he said, "It's amazing to see how well this medicine works, no?"

She snorted at that, it was hardly a 'medicine'. More like the inverse of a painkiller… jackass.

"I heard that. In fact, I hear everything you think as long as it's loud enough."

She tried to pronounce something but only gurgling sounds could be heard and she started another coughing fit with blood flying everywhere. How much had she lost already? It never seemed to stop flowing and her wounds couldn't be healed since those damn swords had probably been bathed into sacred water. Recovering from trying to talk, she remembered why she had wanted to speak in the first place.

_"I heard that. In fact, I hear everything you think as long as it's loud enough."_

Seras grinned like a mad woman who had escaped from the mental hospital and was attempting to catch an illusionary butterfly with a plastic mug. She steadied her mind and then…

_"FUCK YOU, YOU LOUSY BASTARD! I HOPE YOU ROT IN HELL FOR ALL ETERNI…"_

She didn't get the chance to finish as he roughly grabbed the back of her shirt, pulled her out of the tree, the hilt of the knives pushing deeper against her back if possible, and threw her unceremoniously onto the dew-filled grass, dead leaves sticking wherever they could. She had managed to roll her body in the air so she would land on her left side. The impact caused her muscles to squeeze themselves and she knew nothing more than excruciating and raw pain. Her brain registered nothing else for about a few minutes, she couldn't even bring herself to scream. She vomited more blood and her body shook uncontrollably.

A rich laughter filled the air. Damn him…

"Not so proud of yourself, now are you, police girl? Hmm… police girl isn't a suited name for you. Your Master," he spat the word ridiculously, "doesn't have the sense of fashion, does he? How about princess?" Another laugh, "If I recall correctly, you rather liked it when that bum referred to you as such. Oh, and the 'Say hello to your mother for me, scum' was simply marvelous!"

She was still too dazed to react, but she had heard him. Yeah, she heard him. So he had already been stalking her when she was in the forest. She should have drunk the goddamned blood she thought for easily the tenth time today.

"Yes," he continued, "I was there the whole time… You really did a number on him though. And here I thought I considered myself as a professional in torture, you put my name to shame, my dear."

"Just what…is y-your…name?" she wheezed out.

He stepped into the moonlight as he approached her. Astonishingly, instead of pounding her increasing headache, he gently lifted her upper body onto his lap. She could clearly see him now. Red eyes, as expected, a presumably smooth, white face with sharp features and long white or silver hair.

With a smirk plastered across his face he answered, "Blake, but I don't think you'll ever make use of it. You seem so fond of insults."

Seras was too out of it to ponder about what he had said after 'Blake'. She should have expected such a name (so cliché), but his face didn't match. Liar, she managed to think to herself.

He pulled out a knife from her and she moaned, "I spared the heart. I didn't want to kill my plaything, now would I?" Another was taken with a slow and deliberate movement, "If you thought I was going to be quick about removing them all, you were wrong princess. Those small swords are hard to come by. I shouldn't be wasting them on someone who would just throw them away carelessly."

As he finally removed the last one, she finally let out a shuddering breath mixed of pain and relief. How long had she been enduring this? What was headquarters doing? Hello, missing Seras? She may be in danger? Well, she _was_ in danger but the guy just wanted to mess with her. Nothing too bad, just torture and experiment suspicious drugs on his guinea pig which happened to be herself tonight. She felt a wave of anger shudder through her massacred corpse. How could they just _forget_ about her!?

Her anger fueled the last of her strength and she managed to push 'Blake' away and stood up with much difficulty. One of her arms was limp and wouldn't move while the other rested on her biggest wound located on her midriff, uselessly trying to stop the blood from gushing out.

"Still got spunk, can't deny that. But it's pretty useless since you can't go back to Hellsing by foot, princess."

"Heh, you gave me that… foul tasting pill that will 'keep me awake'. So what," she panted a little, "if I fall, I'll crawl over there if I have to and I just won't give up 'till I'm out cold which won't be happening."

"Well," he said innocently, "considering the shape you're in now, you will only die of blood loss. Let's not forget, it _is_ almost dawn," he looked over to the horizon, "and your present condition won't allow you to endure the sun's rays. You will never make it in time so I suggest escorting the lady back home myself." He made a move to take her in his arms but she backed away a few steps.

He frowned, "Don't play hard to get."

With that, he punched her fiercely in her already abused stomach and lifted her onto his shoulders. She got a small revenge when she spit some more of the ruby liquid onto his, surprisingly enough, clean garments without him noticing.

She hardly paid attention to her surroundings as she was more focused on the pressure her weight on his shoulder produced. She gasped every now and then from his harsh treatment. After being manhandled for a while, she thought they had reached the gate because of the shouts the guards made at their sight.

'Blake' shot her a sidelong glance, "You're going to have a very bad day, princess. The pill should stop its effectiveness tomorrow night. Nothing can save you from awareness and pain. I wish you good day."

And she was flung towards the closed gates like a mere sack of potatoes while he fled. During her short 'trip' into the air, she saw the two guards already lying dead in a puddle of freshly spilled blood. The moment she crashed into the gates, it was ripped off its hinges and a stick found itself protruding from her left shoulder eliciting a roar from deep within her throat. In the rubble, she twisted madly from side to side with her hands gripping the iron bar, desperately wanting it to remove itself.

She didn't want her enemy to go without a proper good-bye. Using the last shred of her control over the pain, she sent him a quick but right to the point message.

_I'll kill you._

Wow! I didn't expect my first chapter to be this long but I didn't want to stop it in the middle of the flashback. Well, the more words the better for you!

I didn't want to tell you this, but I feel like you have a right to know. This is officially my first fanfic. Did you notice? When I read it, I positively think it sucks compared to those I usually read, but I tried my best. Tell me what you think, but stay on the line of politeness. Please?

I know Walter is a little out of character. I haven't seen enough of him in the manga so I don't know how to picture him and Alucard is just sooo complicated. I'll try to ease them back into their own character. You shouldn't be asking too much for Alucard, though. It's a Seras/Alucard so expect him to be out of line sometimes. Thanks for reading! I'll be updating in two weeks, maybe three. If nothing goes wrong…


	2. Power of Suggestion

Disclaimer: I do not own Hellsing.

A/N: Hey, thank you all for the reviews. I almost jumped to the roof when I saw people liked it so much. It makes me want to write more! Enough of this, read on!

Chapter 2: Psychology power of suggestion = weapon

'Blake' shot her a sidelong glance, "You're going to have a very bad day, princess. The pill should stop its effectiveness tomorrow night. Nothing can save you from awareness and pain. I wish you good day."

And she was flung towards the closed gates like a mere sack of potatoes while he fled. During her short 'trip' into the air, she saw the two guards already lying dead in a puddle of freshly spilled blood. The moment she crashed into the gates, it was ripped off its hinges and a stick found itself protruding from her left shoulder eliciting a roar from deep within her throat. In the rubble, she twisted madly from side to side with her hands gripping the iron bar, desperately wanting it to remove itself.

She didn't want her enemy to go without a proper good-bye. Using the last shred of her control over the pain, she sent him a quick but right to the point message.

_I'll kill you._

Losing her self-control, the damage her body had sustained finally registered itself to her brain. Seras curled into a ball, a useless attempt to protect herself, and shook violently. The destruction of the gate had triggered the alarm and sirens were resonating loudly in her eardrums, adding more confusion to the scene. Soldiers rushed past her, checking the situation before tending to the wounded.

One crouched beside her and shook her arm roughly trying to see if she was asleep or dead. She recoiled from his touch and viciously hissed at him not to touch her.

"We need medical assistance at the front gates immediately!" he yelled into his radio.

He tucked it back to his belt and started removing the rubble nearby. Others joined him as members of the medical team made their way to her. A man reached for the pole but before he could even touch it, she lashed out at him.

"Don't touch me!!!" she snapped.

"Someone hold her down, we have to take it out!"

She felt hands restraining her.

_"Say hello to your mother for me, scum." A scream of anguish followed._

Her eyes widened when, suddenly, she was back to the forest. He was there, on top of her. His hands were everywhere, brushing and caressing her curves. She could feel his breath on her face. She didn't want this. It had to stop right now. She won't let him have his way with her!

She tried to shove him off with all her might but he was too strong and his assaults were getting bolder by the second. She was suffocating… she's going to die! Had she been turned into a vampire to prevent her death only to fade away a few months later? Was that it? What had been the use then? She didn't want to die. Not now! She still had a lot to be taught from her Master. She panicked and struggled even harder.

Somewhere in the deep of the forest, a voice echoed, "Miss Victoria is uncontrollable and we can't hold her down! She seems to be in a very bad shape and can't be treated properly! Requesting the assistance of Sir Alucard!"

At the mention of her Master's name, the only word she had registered, she was overwhelmed by a sentiment of hope. He was coming to save her! Because of her sudden distraction, her aggressor managed to push her back a bit more to the ground fiercely and the stick slicked a little upwards. The gaping holes on her back were burning with a new vigor. That decided it. She was going to prove her Master she wasn't as useless as he often liked to remind her.

She slowly but firmly overpowered the man and threw him off. She climbed onto her unsteady feet as fast as she could and ran. In her head, she still felt his groping hands and urged her legs to go faster, hoping to put more distance between their bodies.

And that's when she saw him.

He stood there in all his glory. Arms spread wide open to welcome her in a warm embrace with his usual red attire. She had done it! She ran to him, almost crying in relief, but she abruptly stopped, only a foot away from him. She watched in horror as he magically transformed into the person she hated the most at the moment. Blake was now gazing at her with a sardonic smile and he mouthed 'What's wrong, princess?'

Just then, she was slapped in the face and the impact caused her to come back to reality. She saw her Master on top of her, his knees on each of her sides supporting his own weight so she wouldn't suffer unnecessarily. Before she could even utter a word, he forced the upper part of her body down so the pole could slide to its end. She attempted to push him away while she yelped her dissatisfaction but he only grasped both of her arms with one of his powerful hands.

"I'm holding her. Take it out," Alucard said calmly to a man.

With a sickening noise, it was finally pulled free and a compress had been applied to lessen the alarmingly low amount of blood from pouring out. She tried to pronounce some words but they only came out in short terrified gasps.

"Shh, don't talk, police girl. Calm down and listen to me. I said, _calm down_!" he squeezed her arms to get his point across, "I don't want to hear what happened, we can deal with this later. What's important right now is for you to stay calm and save your strength. We'll treat your wounds with the utmost care but you must behave, understand?"

Seras hesitantly nodded once and she was escorted to the medical facility.

Have you ever wondered why you couldn't sleep some nights? A dark ceiling and a creative mind the only things to keep you busy?

That's what Seras was doing with the exception being she already knew why she couldn't sleep. She had been given some sedative with painkillers but she was wide-awake and the pain had only been slightly reduced. She hasn't said a word of complain though. Merely nodding at the doctors whenever they asked if she was okay. The injured soldier just wanted to be left alone in her suffering. She didn't need an audience so what was the use of mentioning that blasted pill she had ingurgitated?

They had given her a massive transfusion and forced her to drink at least four packs of blood she almost threw up. It took a little less than an hour to bandage all of her wounds and to find a way to lie her down without disturbing any injury. She ended up on her right side, facing the wall with the window. She hated that window…

Two hours after her 'abduction', she always expected that son of a bitch to pop out of nowhere and scare her witless. She dreaded the moment she would encounter him once again. He'll track her down again, won't he? But then again… he didn't need to track her, he caught her once and could do it again with no problem. He also knew who she was, where she slept, who her Master was…

One question stuck in her head. Why her?

She was the one who got shot in the lung to kill a vampire, who got turned into a vampire, who never understood until someone told her, who never grasped the truth until the last moment, who was used as a test subject, etc, etc… How boring is that? Why is it that this always happens to the one girl who can't seem to protect herself?

Her shoulder started aching. She wished she could shift her weight onto the other one but an ugly red patch prevented her from doing so. She tried to distract herself but it proved useless as the ache increased. Sighing in defeat, she painstakingly lifted herself to a sitting position. She knew she wasn't supposed to, but who cares?

As she watched her feet, she wondered if she had the strength to walk. With nothing better to do, she slid down the bed and took a tentative step as she wobbled a little. She immediately sat back down when black dots plagued her view and the stitches in her back stretched painfully. Well, maybe she wasn't up to it yet…

A gentle wind breezed through the room and she sharply looked up. Someone was here, she could feel purposeful eyes on her. She grasped the nearest object which happened to be a decorative lamp. She looked at it scornfully but it was better than nothing. Tightly gripping her weapon, she scanned the tiny area until her eyes caught sight of the open window. Oh… that's where the breeze came from. But that window… it's…

She was getting a little paranoid with all the things going around she assumed, shaking her head in surrender. Even though the wind _did_ come from the window, she still wouldn't let go of the lamp and remained alert for any suspicious sound. She wanted to make sure _he_ wasn't there. Yep, she really was paranoid. It wasn't surprising though.

Seras remained rooted to her spot, fear gripping at her heart whenever she saw a moving shadow. After what felt like half an hour but actually two minutes, she tentatively called out, "Hello? Is… is someone there?"

The door cracked open and the artificial light flooded inside, blinding her.

"Miss Victoria, you should be resting right now. What is it?"

"Uhh, who is this?" She squinted her eyes.

"My name is Andrew and I was assigned to stand guard outside your temporary room. Is there something you need? Are you in pain?" the soldier asked her in a totally detached and bored tone.

No, of course not. Having a pole protruding from side to side is my idea of fun, she wanted to say but it obviously wasn't the case. She shook her head instead, the feeling of being observed remaining.

He seemed to peer at her, "What's up with the lamp?"

Embarrassed, she quickly replaced it on the nightstand and mumbled a quick nothing. He shrugged.

"If you need anything I'm just behind this door," he closed it.

One thing was sure, she didn't like the guy one bit. Now that she thought about it… She didn't feel like trusting people anymore. How in the world was she going to get back to work if she couldn't trust those working with her?

And Andrew, was it? Why did she have a guard? Surely not to protect her! He was weaker than she even in her current state. Maybe it was to keep an eye on her… After all, she has been acting weird all night.

_'Well, from _their_ point of view!'_ she thought angrily.

Another breeze came in. She couldn't take it anymore so she extended her good arm to close it and by the same occasion, the stores too. This was much better. She didn't feel so observed anymore. What to do now? Well, she might as well stay in bed feigning sleep. No use trying to get up, she was too tired to do anything else. How was she going to lie down? Her shoulder was still sore and the right one was on vacation… With only one option left, she gently lied onto her back and bit her tongue to prevent the hiss from coming out. She didn't need pity from a soldier who barely knew her.

Little did she know about the lurking shadow in the corner…

Integral was sitting in her leather chair and was in the process of lighting a brand new cigar while another creature was lazily standing in front of her desk, clearly undisturbed by the silence if the smirk was any indication.

Without any warning, Integral banged her fist onto a poor stack of paper and fumed, "I thought I had been clear when I said I didn't want any trouble with Agent Victoria, Alucard. How do you explain the report I received from the previous mission? She came back drenched in blood and claimed that 'she wasn't feeling well enough' to write it herself! And just now, she was savagely attacked by something we _still_ know nothing of!"

Alucard remained unresponsive.

"I also heard she went totally berserk when our medical team tried to rescue her," she continued, " I will not stand much more of this. We cannot afford to lose time on such petty matters so I expect you to put a stop to whatever is bothering your pupil, understood?"

He lowered his head to look down his glasses and the smirk fell off his face.

"It's the first time it's ever happened and, as you said, we still don't know what that police girl went through. Her reaction may be reasonable considering the situation she was in. I don't think I'll be able to immediately solve the problem. She didn't even recognize me when I tried to contain her and those wounds she came back with weren't meant to kill her," he said seriously.

Biting harder onto the cigar, she asked, "What were they for then? Maybe she was simply avoiding the mortal blows."

"They were meant to weaken her or torture her. Probably both. But for what reason…"

"I don't care! I accepted her only because it was you and thought you'd be able to make her into a fully responsible and independent vampire unit like you, but I am greatly disappointed to see she's only brought back trouble with her instead of successful reports. I can't tolerate anymore of this. I want you to put a stop to this so train her non-stop when we'll know what happened. She should be fine after sleeping the whole day. You should do the same."

"Master Integral, I don't think…" he started but she shot him a dirty look.

The tension in the air was heavy until an urgent rapping on the old carved door broke it.

Integral sighed, "What is it?"

Walter immediately appeared into the office. He was out of breath as if he had just won the marathon.

"It… it's Miss Victoria! Please come quick!!"

He grabbed Alucard's sleeve and dragged him outside while Integral gave the vampire a meaningful look. She extinguished her cigar in the ashtray and followed them to the medical aisle.

"Dammit, get Andrew out of there!"

"We can't! Something's blocking the door!"

"Then break it down, you fool!"

When they got there, it was the scene they came upon. Half a dozen of soldiers were pushing against the door and screaming from the other side could be heard. The problem was… those weren't Seras' screams. Alucard could have broken the door down but not without destroying everything inside. So he pushed the men out of his way and phased through.

His eyes first settled onto the upside down bed in front of the entrance. Next, was the keeling human yelling his pain out. His hands were clasped around his stomach and blood dripped endlessly between his fingers. He scanned for Seras but only found broken glass lying on the floor. The red-coated vampire shoved the bed sideways with ease and opened the door to signal them it was safe. While the man called Andrew was being tended to, he turned to Walter.

"She's gone," he told him quietly.

"Gone, sir? It isn't possible!"

Integral heard this and approached them, "What do you mean gone? Am I to assume she attacked her guard to run away?"

He smirked, "Well, if that were to be the case I'd be proud considering…"

"This is no time to joke," she cut in.

"Fine, fine. I'll locate her," he paused, "She's still in the building, on the third floor I believe. I'll go get her, there's nothing to worry about so just wait here."

He levitated to the ceiling and disappeared through it.

Was he still after her? She hadn't expected him to attack again so soon. The adrenaline had dulled the pain to nothing so she had managed to escape but it was slowly fading as she hid in the corner of a closet. The burning pain was back with a vengeance, protesting at the strain she had forced upon her unfortunate carcass and the smell of blood was heavy around her thanks to her ripped stitches.

Seras was getting sick and tired of all this running away. She just wanted to curl into a ball and sleep all her worries away, but thanks to some insane bastard she was deprived of such a gift. At least her headache had disappeared a long time ago, a scraped forehead the only mark left.

A laugh resonated through the hallway or in her head, she couldn't make the difference. The frightened agent crawled further into her hiding place and kept her arms around herself. Her eyes widened when footsteps landed loudly on the floor. The closer they got, the more freaked out she was. She looked at the light filtering under the door and saw two dark shadows immobilize themselves. Apprehensive, she noticed the door handle turning itself.

In a moment of desperation, she grabbed it and held it tightly to prevent anymore movement. She heard a sigh and the next thing she knew the whole door was ripped out along with her. She followed the large hand to the well-toned arm that was connected to a broad shoulder and then the pale face appeared.

Indeed, Blake was standing before her with a hungry look. Now that she could see him more clearly under the lights instead of the pale moonlight he seemed crueler than before. In fact, he was probably pissed off because she had managed to flee the first time and she intended to do it again. Not wanting to stay in his presence any longer and not caring for another beating, Seras wrenched the door from him, threw it forth, and used the distraction to find help. As she turned the corner, she was hurled into a wall and Blake was instantly next to her. Disoriented, she slid down her support, leaving red trails, and he kicked her in the ribs until she was sprawled like a squashed tomato.

"That's no way to welcome your future Master, princess. I thought you felt lonely without me so I decided to pay you a little visit and see how you were doing. From what I can see, you're not doing great… Look, you're bleeding," he squeezed her wounded shoulder, "I knew I should have tended to you myself, those are pretty nasty gashes you got there! Whoever did this to you, I wonder?" She wasn't sure but his voice was harsher than she remembered.

_Whoa! Wait a minute!! Future Master…? What's he talking about?_

He put one of his muddy boots in the middle of her chest and slowly added more and more of his weight. She could only clasp his ankles and whine.

In a lower voice he continued, "Agree to serve me and I will stop."

Is he suggesting she leave Alucard for him? What a preposterous idea! She has to drink blood from her current master to be freed and she already refused once. Surely he won't be proposing it again in the near future. Is it even possible to have two masters at the same time? Once again that day she thought, why her?

"I'd… rather die than… serve you, bastard!" she got out.

Rather than putting on more weight he was now using his own strength. She thought her insides had already exploded and were roaming free in her system. It didn't bother him the least, in fact he was enjoying this greatly. She could tell.

"If I push any harder, your ribs are going to break. Are you sure this is your answer?"

Her nails dug deeper into the leather fabric, hoping to release some of the pressure but he hadn't relented so she gritted her teeth and remained silent. He smiled at her. Now _what_ was he planning?

"You say you don't want to serve me, but you already did…" he whispered.

She caught his gaze and stilled. His red eyes seemed to swirl as she lost herself into them. The colors mashed together to create one big rainbow which slowly started to fade to black. A flash of white was next to appear and she was entranced by its sudden change to a red background. Her mind went numb while images flashed in front of her.

_A soldier.__ Andrew?_

_Herself.__ A cruel grin upon her face._

_A fight.__ Broken glass._

_Bloody hands.__ A man clutching his stomach._

_She licked each one of her fingers while savoring the taste and left the room in its state._

"You're lying, I'd never do this! Those are just illusions! Get out of my head! _GET OUT!!_" she screamed, clutching her temples.

He cackled madly, "No, _you_ did this. You only wished to erase it from your memory and blame it on me. I can see right through you. In the end, you are nothing but a conniving bitch that manipulates her way with lies and deceptions. Stop denying it, this _is_ the real you, a manipulative woman who'd do anything to have her way. Accept yourself as you truly are and follow me. Together, we will accomplish great things. No more thirst, no more holding back, limitless power. What more can you ask for? I can give you everything you crave for and in return, serve me."

The way he spoke suggested many things, but in her hazy mind nothing seemed more appealing than abandoning her soul to those promises. His excitement was contagious because she found herself swept away in it. How would it feel to obey her hunger? To have power on her side? To rule over none-existent rules?

Just as she was about to answer, he made a mistake.

"Think about that soldier you almost killed. You'd be able to eliminate every single one of them on a whim without remorse and feed to your heart's desire…"

His spell was removed when she wildly shook her head.

"It wasn't me! You did this to him!" she repeated heatedly.

Blake swore under his breath. His eyes went sideways for a moment and he swore again.

He sneered, "You're lucky, someone is coming. I _will_ come back for you, but right now I have other important matters to attend to. Until next time, princess!" His face switched from crazy to maniacal, and with a final kick, he jumped out of the nearest window.

Seras crawled to the wall and slumped against it without a care for her newly opened injuries. Finally he had left. This time he hadn't been too physical on her but rather psychological. She preferred the first than the latter. Physical abuse she can endure, mind torture she could not. Because of this, a feeling in the pit of her stomach she never had settled there.

Doubt.

What he made her see wasn't true, right? Of course it wasn't! He attacked her and the guard heard the commotion so he entered and received a devastating blow from Blake. She must admit she hadn't cared about him as she ran away but who wouldn't have done the same?

Still, those pictures were marked into her skull and they seemed _so_ real, she couldn't just banish them. She didn't know what to believe anymore, her version or his. Truth mingled with false to create an on-coming headache and her emotions were stalled into sadness mode. She wanted to cry but refrained from doing so.

She wasn't as heartless as he made her to be. A conniving bitch? She couldn't bring herself to hurt an animal even if it was in a life or death situation so why would he think she'd actually be able to plan her way through lies and cheap trickery? She's not that clever! She's just… she's just… an inoffensive kitten.

As she rested her throbbing head, Alucard phased through the carpet at the end of the hallway and walked to her side.

"Hey, police girl," she stared blankly at him, "what are you doing?"

In a tired voice she answered, "Waiting for help. Your help."

"Whatever for?"

"To protect me."

"From what?" he inquired again.

"From everything, from harm, from _him_…" she whispered.

He picked her up and headed to _her_ bedroom. A long silence ensued until, "We found your guard bleeding to death. Was that you?"

She couldn't answer for her throat constricted and she choked on her words. She held him tighter and tried not to cry.

Suddenly, she blurted out, "It wasn't me, I swear! I'd never do this to a human. It wasn't me! You have to believe me!!"

She kept repeating it over and over until her sobs were the only thing we could hear. All the pent up emotions and stress were released along with her tears. But she wasn't crying on Alucard's shoulder because she didn't know the truth behind Andrew's aggression, not because of Blake's incessant torture and absolutely not because of her past memories resurfacing again.

She was crying because she almost said yes to Blake's proposition… To live a life the way the very vampires she chased were living. A life of self-satisfaction, violence and darkness.

A/N: YES! I've done it! I had a little trouble writing this part because I had too many ideas and couldn't decide which ones to pick (at least I don't have a writer's block!!!!!). So I compromised with some and mixed others. Hope you like how it turned out! Personally, I'm satisfied.

Whew! I thought I was going to update later than the promised date but I made it. Thank you again for all those who reviewed the beginning of this story. Your words bring me inspiration and ideas. Confidence too, that's very important to mention. I'll start working on the third chapter right away! After a good night's sleep, that is…

Again, give me two to three weeks for the next chapter.


	3. Time to Recover

Disclaimer: I do not own Hellsing.

A/N: God, I hope I can make it through this… My _older_ sister's watching The Nutcracker, Barbie version. I won't tell you the horror she's putting me through… I think I'll turn up the juice on my speakers, just to piss her off. Yeah, we love each other! Here's the next chapter as you requested. It's a little bit later than usual but I had trouble finding time to write. Huge thanks for the nice reviews.

Chapter 3: Time to Recover

He picked her up and headed to _her_ bedroom. A long silence ensued until, "We found your guard bleeding to death. Was that you?"

She couldn't answer for her throat constricted and she choked on her words. She held him tighter and tried not to cry.

Suddenly, she blurted out, "It wasn't me, I swear! I'd never do this to a human. It wasn't me! You have to believe me!!"

She kept repeating it over and over until her sobs were the only thing we could hear. All the pent up emotions and stress were released along with her tears. But she wasn't crying on Alucard's shoulder because she didn't know the truth behind Andrew's aggression, not because of Blake's incessant torture and absolutely not because of her past memories resurfacing again.

She was crying because she almost said yes to Blake's proposition… To live a life the way the very vampires she chased were living. A life of self-satisfaction, violence and darkness.

_In the darkness, she could hear a whisper. She strained her senses to decipher it with no results. As she was about to give up, a nearly invisible glitter caught her eye. Weird… It was just floating there, into the emptiness. The mirage was small and she couldn't make out the details so she took a step. Or rather tried to as she found herself walking into thin air._

_Looking down, she noticed the absence of her legs. Curious, she touched her face and waved her arms around. She could still feel her body but at the same time, it wasn't there. She shrugged her shoulders and flew towards the wavering light. The closer she got, the brighter it shone. The glow soothed her nerves and from it emanated a comforting presence. Still, the lingering whispers in the background hadn't stopped nor had they increased._

_For once in a very long time, she felt her cheeks warming under the incandescence when she halted in front of it. Despite this sun look-alike, her body still remained in the shadows. Not thinking but acting on her first impulse, she reached out to caress its smooth surface._

_A hair away from grazing it, the temporary security she felt broke as the murmurs began to emit high-pitched screams that accused her of insolence and treason. The little sun burned with a new kind of power and morphed into a large rock coated with fire and lava. The core of this fireball pulsated like a real heart and pumped small amounts of hot liquid from random holes to form a regular pathway of crossed rings._

The meteor moved slowly in her direction as if warning her. She turned around and swam in the air as fast as she could. Panic burdened her movements and she didn't get very far by the time it was hot on her tail. Looking behind, she took a sharp intake of breath and before it hit her, the shrieks of many unknown persons managed to insult her again and again.

Seras woke up with a start, drenched in cold sweat. She sat up quickly, realizing only too late about her closed lid, and immediately fell back in her previous position as she bumped her head on the hard wood. She grumbled angrily and rubbed her forehead, wiping off some of the wet substance at the same occasion.

A dream, that's all it was. A stupid dream.

She sighed and checked her wounds in the dark with her enhanced sight. The one on her left shoulder healed pretty quickly for the metal bar that she had been rammed with wasn't made of silver. The stitches she had were removed and the rest were mere scratches covered of ugly looking crust over them. In short, she was feeling a lot better than a week ago.

She explained to Integral what happened that day and, of course, she reprimanded her for such carelessness and had forbidden her to step out of the limits of the Hellsing manor. On the bright side, she also recommended her to take a week of rest which, unfortunately, was already coming to an end. This short break was probably Integral's way of saying 'I'm glad you're all right.'

Still, new rules had to be applied. 'For your safety,' Integral had said. Seras was confined in her room every night until Walter came to feed her. He had been ordered to bring her first meal of the night and make sure she drank it all up since she had a tendency of skipping. She also had the responsibility of seeking him out at least once in the evening for another pack of blood she'd have to consume in his presence again. If she didn't take it, Alucard would probably come and harass her until she'd give up and fetch it so he could leave her alone.

A curfew was forced onto her. She had to be in her chamber two hours before dawn and someone would check on her. It was the sole rule that really displeased her. The others she could understand because she _knew_ she'd do the same mistakes and besides, she wasn't ready to go outside anytime soon. Being told it was time for her to go to bed was, to say the least, annoying. It hurt her pride, as a young adult shouldn't have a curfew. Kids do, but not _her_.

She almost got stuck with a permanent escort but she protested and talked her superior out of this idea. Luckily, Alucard had agreed with her on that one saying she was much stronger than any average human or bodyguard she'd get. He instead suggested the previously talked about rule of her waiting for Walter to bring his student her breakfast. It bothered her less than the previously talked about escort.

Just as she opened the lid of her coffin, three consecutive knocks were heard.

"Come in," she huffed lazily.

Walter appeared in the doorframe, holding a bucket tightly in his left hand, and bowed politely.

"Good evening, Miss Victoria. I have brought…" he trailed off and his eyes got so huge she thought they might pop out of their sockets.

Surprised by his odd behavior, she looked at her chest as a cold draft bit into a fair amount of her pale skin and made her shiver. She flushed red when she realized why the butler had stopped talking and hastily buttoned her wide-open blouse that exposed her white bra. Whatever happened to the 'I am not an exhibitionist' part? She shyly shifted her gaze back at the old man standing in the doorway and saw him wipe away the remnants of his nosebleed. They both stayed silent for a moment and then started laughing at the rather comical situation.

"Are… are you all right, Walter?" Seras giggled lightly.

"Yes, I'm fine," he chuckled while adjusting his monocle, "I'm sorry I barged in like that."

"No, it's my fault. I didn't realize the state I was in. Though, I must admit, that it was funny seeing your reaction… Were you a womanizer in your younger days?" she laughed again.

He looked embarrassed and said, "Please don't go spreading rumors about me, Miss Victoria."

"Don't worry, it's between you and me," she winked at him.

It felt good to laugh again; her weird dream was nothing more but a fragmented puzzle with pieces scattered randomly in her memory. The stress and paranoia had given her severe mood swings that were easily comparable to a seven-month pregnant woman arguing with her husband (or just plainly screaming his head off). One minute she's bawling her eyes out and the other she's tearing the whole place apart screaming like a banshee.

Seras remembered the first night she awoke after the pill's effects wore off. She had scampered in the darkest corner with a sheet over her head and wept like a widow over the tomb of her lover. The moment Walter entered the stuffy atmosphere, her mood took a sharp 180 degrees turn when she sputtered a whole dictionary of profanities and hurled various objects at the stone wall. The startled man attempted to calm her down in vain. Well, it's obvious to say that Alucard rescued the poor butler when he appeared out of nowhere, as usual, and slapped her silly. After that outburst, she apologized profusely to the both of them.

The recovering officer lifted her aching body out of bed and made sure not to fall down the few stairs _this_ time. She stretched and put a hand to cover her jaw-popping yawn. She thanked Walter as she grasped the bucket from him and looked inside. Sure enough, there was her morning meal but two package of blood were waiting to be emptied instead of one. She frowned.

"Err, I think you made a mistake. There's two of them," she carefully examined his face under her bangs.

"Actually, no. Sir Alucard himself asked, well, more like demanded an extra bag for you. He said you'd welcome the sustenance during your first day of returning to work. Maybe he's right, it's bound to tire you."

Her voice lowered to a threatening growl, "I don't need it. I already have to see you once a day for another refill. One is sufficient enough, thank you."

She was about to throw the second one away before a hand griped her wrist, firmly but not forcefully. She flinched at the intrusion of her vital space and gazed reproachfully at the old but wise man.

"Seras," her head snapped at attention when he spoke her first name, "Forgive me for stepping out of my boundaries, but I am telling you this not as a co-worker but as a good friend. One day or another, you will have to come to terms with what you have become. No matter how much you try to deny it, it will only kill you in the end. Accept it, at least for your own good."

_"Accept yourself as you truly are and follow me."_

That's what Blake had told her. Her fist tightened around the cool item and she closed her eyes. How could she accept it knowing she might take the wrong path? A part of her dream rushed back at full force. People accusing her of treason… Would it be the same if she embraced the other side? Of course, she'd never do this… right? The doubt resurfaced again.

She shoved the thoughts in the back of her mind and let her body go limp, indicating her defeat to Walter. He let her go and gave a smile of encouragement. The faster she drank it all up, the sooner she'd get out of here. She shot daggers at the inoffensive pack and hesitantly took a sip. As if on cue, the thirst ignited and she couldn't resist what it commanded her.

Two empty bags later, Seras was in a better mindset and felt less tired. She was surprised to see she really _was_ hungry. She shuddered a little for the taste was still lingering in the depth of her throat. It was over with until she'd have to fetch the next meal. She thought about skipping but she knew it would be useless to try. What do they say? Resistance is futile?

"There, I drank them both. I'd better not have double portions anymore. Was it just for this time?" she almost pleaded, unconsciously licking her long fangs.

"He didn't precise it," he looked at his pocket watch and exclaimed, "I must be going now. You are also free to go. If you'll excuse me, Miss Victoria…" he left with a polite bow.

Seras dressed a little more presentably and mentally prepared herself to face the weird looks she'd get. She was used to them but it still annoyed her. She had some time before her training class started so she decided to practice her shooting skills.

When she penetrated the shooting arena, the only soldier in there had conveniently emptied his cartridge and walked away with a nervous nod towards her. She nodded back whilst ignoring the rapid clicking of his army boots indicating he had ran the rest of the way. She somehow found it hilarious.

She yanked on the ear protectors, though it was useless since she could still hear perfectly through them, it was just for procedures. Inserting a full bullet clip into the slot, she aimed at the target. She imagined Blake staring down at her with that crazy grin of his, her finger trembling lightly on the trigger. A twitch in the corner of her left eye was the only struggle showing on her face. With a fierce look, she shot all the bullets in a flurry and when it clicked empty, she threw the gun at the motionless paper with a loud roar and it clattered sadly in the background.

Frustrated at her present state of helplessness, she punched the unfortunate wall but it wasn't enough to get it out of her system. She needed to feel pain so her brain could concentrate on something else. She wanted to rip _his_ flesh apart. Trying to control her anger, she tightened her fists and shut her eyes. It left as fast as it came, leaving her in a small daze.

An unsettling feeling made itself known as a shiver traveled up her spine. It was as if someone was watching her. The wary woman blamed it on her constant paranoia but she knew better.

"Master, stop hiding please."

His laugh echoed throughout the area and he materialized behind her. His shadow fell on her when he approached and she turned around, crossing her arms. Alucard's pitch-black hair was tumbling down his shoulders, a contrast to his white complexion, and he was wearing those damn yellow-tinted glasses. He tipped his sharp nose in the air, light reflecting on the round specs.

"I'm impressed, I didn't think you'd actually sense me. I must admit I left some hints but it still took you a while. Good job, police girl…"

"But not good enough, right? If you were to be an enemy I would already be dead," she replied scathingly.

He ignored her tone, "…I see you understand your past errors. You can't expect to be the best without losing once or twice. Learn from this."

She was about to argue some more but he cut her off, "How about practicing your aim?"

Swallowing her protests, she pointed to the target, "I already did, you can see the results for yourself. I'm out of here."

"Not so fast, police girl," he pulled her next to him, "You've never tried with this!"

He reached behind him and handed her a huge black gun with an inscription reading 'Jesus Christ Is in Heaven Now'. She'd get to shoot with the Cassul?! How lucky! She carefully shifted the weight in her hand to get comfortable with it, almost afraid she might break its fragile beauty. It wasn't really heavy but it weighed more than what she usually trained with. It also felt different, almost as if it had a power and a mind of its own. Walter really outdid himself on that one.

She was about to shoot when, "I'd recommend using both hands. It packs quite a lot of power."

Seras only snorted. She's handled Halconnen on every mission and, except for the first time she used it, never had any problem whatsoever. Surely, she could use this baby single-handedly! As she squashed the trigger, her wrist gave a hard jerk upwards and the force of the blast made her lose her footing. Her ears were still ringing when Alucard grabbed her by the waist to steady her.

His breath tickled her right cheek, "I told you it was powerful…"

He nodded in the general direction she had fired and, sure enough, a hole larger than the head was what remained of the chest area. Interesting, it's like a shotgun inserted in a smaller pistol. A work of art, yes indeed.

"Comfortable?"

She jumped out of his hold and blushed a little. She hadn't realized this before but when she had been leaning on him, he had felt so warm. Their body temperature was low by human standards but compared to him, hers was even lower. The way his hands had folded so perfectly on her waist made her wish she was still in his arms and she had felt completely secure in them, as if no one could wrench her from him.

She sighed wistfully, "Thank you Master for lending it to me. Here."

She extended the gun so he could take it but he only opened the left side of his coat. It took her a while to understand he wanted her to place it in his hidden pocket. He eyed her and smiled like a maniac about to launch his most ingenious plan in action. For some reason, she felt like a complete idiot. She advanced in front of him and carefully pulled the fabric, almost afraid to tear it, and deposited the gun. She waited in front of him, still pretty close, expecting him to pounce on her for any mistake she might have done and reprimand her as usual.

Without warning, he leaned towards her and the thumping of her heart skipped a beat in excitement. His hair brushed against her skin and he remained poised over her neck but didn't move any further. She didn't dare to inch closer either, too scared of breaking this rare moment, and also because she knew she shouldn't. Of course, she shouldn't. Her Master fancied Integral, not her. It just wasn't fair for Integral if she did act upon her emotions.

Seras had witnessed the many looks they gave each other whenever they seemingly spoke of business. You couldn't notice unless you blatantly stared at them or plainly stopped blinking. It bothered her to see them communicate so easily without any spoken words. Well, maybe she was more than just bothered. She could admit that she was very jealous of her boss but only to herself. Her sole consolation was the few precious minutes she'd spent alone in his company, like now.

Alucard caught a small whiff of her and pulled back with a slight sneer. She concealed a shiver as the warmth radiating from his body moved further away and pondered about his expression. Did she stink?

"You still reek of that foul lowlife," he said in contempt.

…Right.

She could only frown and smile in bewilderment. The good side of this explanation was that she didn't actually smell. With his heightened senses, he was able to detect the lingering scent of Blake on her. How he could still smell it after a week was beyond her. She discreetly sniffed her shoulder and shrugged to herself when nothing unusual came to her nose.

Not wanting to pursue the discussion on Blake, she looked at her watch and exclaimed, "I must be going, Master. My class will be waiting for me."

She started leaving until, "Police girl," she turned around, "don't let looming threats darken your path," he disappeared.

She stood in the now empty shooting range wondering just what the _hell_ he'd meant by that. She tried to decipher its weird meaning with no success and resumed her walk to gather her students.

_Whatever that means!_

__

__

"What do you mean you can't see the target?! It's right in front of you!"

"Miss Victoria, need I remind you that we are mere mortals? It's hard for us to see at night!" The voice sounded strained, as if the man was trying to squash down his anger.

"Oh, please! It's only 1500 meters far! Try harder!" she argued.

"Try harder, try harder… I'd like to see _you_ try!" he finally spat, out of patience.

Seras ground her teeth together and clenched her fists. She attempted to remain calm and composed for _his_ sake only (she didn't know why she even bothered) and ripped the rifle from his hands. God knew if she lost control, she'd shred to poor lad into pieces. _Newbies_, she thought angrily.

"Fine," she seethed, "step aside, _boy_."

She pushed him out of the way, took aim and shot the carton-made man straight in the chest. She turned around with a proud smirk and saw twenty-four awe-filled faces. _That ought to teach them._

Ever since the Valentine brothers' assault, Integral had been formal on putting more efforts in the training classes. Because of the lack of soldiers, when the newest batch of recruits came even she had been dispatched to teach them. _Of course_, Integral's personal slave had been spared of such a bothersome task besides, Alucard would have probably killed them all with his harsh ways of training.

"Now," she started, "I expect you to do the same. In a combat situation, keeping the enemy as far as possible is the safest way for you to do your jobs… and to survive. Remember, your enemies aren't human. They are ghouls. Empty shells with a somewhat similar resemblance to men controlled by a vampire and killing them is in fact freeing their souls. I train you to the best of my abilities so you can witness what it's like out there and live to tell about it. No more, no less. You'll thank me later when the time comes to shoot them down… You'll be very glad for the distance that's in between your bodies. It isn't the prettiest of sights. Now, resume your fire."

She handed back the gun to her student and pierced him with a superior look. He took it and commenced his practice without a word. The rest of the hour was spent in more arguing but it was of minor concern.

"Finally, I can rest!"

Seras threw herself into her open coffin, having filled her belly of the other meal she had grudgingly taken from Walter. Closing her eyes with the firm intention of taking a tiny nap, she rolled around her bed sheets to gain some more warmth. Just as she was blissfully slipping into unconsciousness, a thought suddenly popped in her head and the idea of sleeping flew out the window. She sat up and rubbed her temples, disturbed. Maybe she should go and visit him. After all, she still had about an hour or two before curfew.

Sighing, she smoothed her shirt and walked out. On instinct, she verified both sides of the hallway checking for anything that might jump on her. More precisely, she was making sure Blake wasn't there. She was scared of him but if he ever came back, she'd be ready for him. Paranoia was a must if she wanted to catch him before he did.

With a fast pace, she went to the other side of the mansion and climbed two sets of stairs leading to the second story. Now that she thought about it… Most employees didn't live in the mansion even if there was a dormitory. They had houses of their own not too far away from here in case of emergencies. But she could never dream of owning her own apartment for she needed a basement and the neighbors would get suspicious of the inactivity during the day. So she settled for her current status.

Taking a sharp turn to the right, she counted four doors and stopped in front of the fifth one. She raised her fist to knock but halted. What was the use? He probably wouldn't hear her anyway. Hesitantly, she turned the doorknob. A soft steady beeping noise flooded her eardrums and the strong smell of sedatives made her head spin. Stepping further into the room, she noticed a lamp was turned on low next to some kind of pot and behind the curtains that separated the two beds she could see the outlines of a human form.

Seras inched closer and pulled the drapes away with a soft metallic sound. The man she stood next to looked weak and pale but he was out of danger. His breath was a little labored and he had a washcloth on his forehead glistening with sweat. He had woken up once but just long enough so he could understand what happened and where he was. She hadn't been there.

"Hey, Andrew," she sat on a nearby stool, "How are you feeling today?"

The machine indicating his heart rate beeped twice rapidly and then resumed its regular rhythm but she paid no mind to it. Taking the damp cloth, she dipped it into the bowl, refreshing it, and replaced it on his burning skin while brushing some of his light brown hair. She held his hand in a loose grip and let her head fall heavily on the mattress. The man was sleeping soundly without feeling any of this. She chatted uselessly of trivial things until the doubt made itself known.

"Say… there really was something in that room, wasn't there? I-I mean, I'm not crazy to think that it was Blake who did this to you, right?" she stopped.

Seras didn't know why she froze there. Maybe she was waiting for an answer, be it positive of negative. Anything, just as long as she finally understood what transpired that night. It was intolerable! This feeling of doubting yourself, not knowing what possessed you at that moment that made you forget it.

"Who did this to you?" she wondered sadly, "Was it really me…?"

Looking at her hand, she started when she saw blood on them. The mental picture Blake had shown her flashed through her head, the one where there was blood on her fingers and she smiled cruelly. But when she stared back at them, they were clean and devoid of red. The disturbed vampire trembled slightly and covered her face, her eyes were playing tricks on her and the more she thought about it the more she believed she was the one responsible for Andrew's wounds.

Seras felt guilty for his predicament. It was only a gut wound but the ability for a human to recover was a very slow process. Her own gashes hadn't healed completely because her metamorphose wasn't completed yet. She was still stuck in the middle of human and vampire, the latter coming closer and closer. On a scale of one hundred, she was about eighty percent complete, or so she guessed.

She spoke almost tenderly into the air talking about her day, anything to change the previous subject, in a muffled voice. She got no response but it eased her heart to say it out loud. Even if it was to no one. From time to time she would wet the cloth with more cold water. She did this until she realized she was past her curfew. Swearing mildly, she said goodbye to Andrew and hurriedly went to her own room.

Seras was about to get in when the door suddenly opened in a rush. If it weren't for her quick reflexes, it would have banged on her nose instead of the wall. She was going to lash out at the person's clumsiness but a hand upon her arm stopped her.

"M-miss Victoria! Where have you been? We were starting to get worried…" Walter said as he withdrew.

Still a little dazed by the near hit, she stammered, "I…err…Well, I was busy and I didn't see the time pass…"

"Busy doing what?" Alucard emerged behind Walter.

"S-stuff," she said evasively, scared of her Master's imposing stance.

"Could you be a bit more specific, police girl? You know you are forty minutes late, an explanation would be good."

Biting her lips, she lied, "Training."

Alucard kept silent, staring at her, and she felt a small prickling sensation in her head. Walter moved sideways to let her Master through and she absently took a step backwards as he towered over her. She realized too late that the prickling sensation she had felt was her Master searching through her mind and her heart knotted painfully in her chest for she feared his punishment.

"I don't like being lied to," he said menacingly as she shrunk under his accusing eyes, "I'd advise you to tell me the truth next time. I hope your lie was worth the time you had at the infirmary," he left without looking back.

Seras quickly ushered the steward away and she sank into her bed. The composed face she had managed to keep in front of Walter shattered as the first tear escaped the corner of her eye and splattered onto her hand. Endless streams of salty water were now silently pouring down her cheeks.

She hadn't meant it. She hadn't meant to lie and especially not to him. She only wanted to keep her visit private. Was that so wrong? It was an intimate moment she tried to hide because she thought she was being weak. She often chose to be a woman instead of a soldier. She couldn't deny her female instinct.

"In the end, you are nothing but a conniving bitch that manipulates her way with lies and deceptions."

A sob escaped past her lips when Blake's word reached her thoughts. He was right. She was a lying bitch. But what was a girl to do if she wanted privacy? She pulled on her hair to prevent anymore cries from flying out of her treacherous mouth. This feeling… it was unsettling. Her heart felt heavy and squeezed painfully each time she reminded herself of her Master's evident disgust on his face.

It hurt to see him turn his back on her without so mush as a punishment. It might sound masochist, but if he had at least lashed out at her or even just hit her she would've felt better because that would've meant he cared. Apparently, he doesn't and he desires nothing more than to wash his hands of her. Who wants an apprentice who doesn't want to learn?

Utterly crushed by Alucard's rejection, Seras rolled into a pitiful ball of quivering flesh and fell into a restless sleep, thinking how unfair it was that she couldn't seem to do anything right these days.

A/N: Here's a little something I've been itching to do…

Coffin… 1200$  
Cheap blouse… 50$  
Bra… 40$  
Seeing Walter having a nosebleed… PRICELESS!!

Heehehe, I must admit it was pretty funny writing this. Though the ending was maybe a little rushed? I don't know. With the atmosphere at home I couldn't write decent angst and I didn't know how to end it. But I am getting late in my update so you'll have to make due with this. I'll try to get a head start on the fourth chapter.

Wait for the usual two to three weeks before update. I'm sorry I can't be any faster…


	4. Protecting the Weak

Disclaimer: I do not own Hellsing.

A/N: Here's another chapter. I don't have much to say at this present moment and I don't want to bother you with useless chatter so just a line or two will be sufficient. I am very happy to see no one said that my story sucked yet (and no, that is not an invitation to do so) and I thank you from the bottom of my heart for the short but right to the point reviews. It means a lot to me since I've only begun my…err…career, let's say. Whoops, so much for the line or two… I'll gladly shut up now!

Chapter 4: Protecting the Weak

*************

__

"In the end, you are nothing but a conniving bitch that manipulates her way with lies and deceptions."

A sob escaped past her lips when Blake's word reached her thoughts. He was right. She was a lying bitch. But what was a girl to do if she wanted privacy? She pulled on her hair to prevent anymore cries from flying out of her treacherous mouth. This feeling… it was unsettling. Her heart felt heavy and squeezed painfully each time she reminded herself of her Master's evident disgust on his face.

She knew she had a thing for him but she forced herself to believe it was for the best to leave him be and to never act upon her emotions. She left him to Integral. She could take every part of him and taunt her but she'd never retaliate. It must be hard to 'just forget' what she felt but she'll manage. If she can't do it by herself, she'll force him to push her away.

Seras slowly pulled herself together and after half an hour of tossing back and forth, she succumbed into a restless sleep.

Why, oh _why_ had she fallen in love?

*************

Another day, another meal, another dispute.

When was this boring routine going to stop?

Ever since she had resumed in-door work nothing seemed to go back to the way things were. Her students showed her nothing but rudeness, Integral was more demanding than ever and her Master kept bringing her down. Well, that last bit was normal except she was forcing him to punish her by constantly disobeying his orders. She needed something to spend her time on or she'd burst of pent up frustration.

Seras blew some bangs out of her face and rested her chin in her hand as she sank deeper into the plush sofa. She was on her break time and had nothing better to do than waiting. She had already raided the whole library of interesting books and all that was left were vampire-related stories and war history. Not something that she deemed worth the effort of reading. She looked outside in hopes of finding a distraction but found none. After a little while, her thoughts began to drift as she mulled over the things she greatly missed in her human life.

Loneliness was part of being a vampire, but back to her mortal days, she used to go out regularly with her friends. It was fun discovering the many pleasures life had to offer. Relaxing movies, thrilling races, exciting parties, surprising encounters, teenaged love, secret kisses… She took all of this for granted, but now that she had lost them it felt like she really did die back in that blasted church.

The white moon caught her eye and she followed the moonlight's trail that plunged part of the shelves into a bluish glow. It reminded her how she longed to bask in the sun's blazing heat. It felt like an eternity to her since she last saw it. She wondered if she'd ever get to squint her eyes at its sunrays again. Probably not.

She let out a ragged breath, hugged her knees and buried her head in the crook. Reminiscing won't help her boredom but she just couldn't help it. Memories she thought she'd lost were one by one reappearing in her mind's eye, telling her of who she once was. A loving and carefree girl. The tide turned when she decided to follow her late father's footsteps and join the London Police Department's elite D-II Corps. Those days had been hard on her moral…

Before she could ponder any further, the door to the library opened.

"Ah, there you are Miss Victoria! I was looking all over for you."

Quickly getting up, she swirled around to meet the intruder. She dropped her guard when she noticed that it was only Walter.

"What is it? If it's about the meal I was supposed to get…" Seras began nervously.

The old butler politely cut in, "No, no. I just wanted to inform you that Integral wishes to see you right away."

__

Crap.

That's what she meant by more demanding. She vaguely thought about what she did wrong this time. Lately, she's been acting like a real harpy to almost everyone in the mansion and messing around with orders wasn't an exception. She could just blatantly refuse but Walter would probably coax her into going anyway. Well, maybe she'd skip on pissing everybody off this time. Besides, she had a hunch that it wasn't something bad.

She nodded at Walter as she headed to her boss' office. Before she exited the room he stopped her.

"Oh, and Miss Victoria…" she looked over her shoulder, "Don't forget to come and see me for your second meal. I'm not letting you off the hook that easy."

She growled low at that and left, but she was still within earshot when she heard him laugh. Taking the longest path to the third floor, Seras got a kick in scaring poor staff members. If they gave her the usual weird look, she'd stare right back at them with a maniacal grin as though she knew something they didn't. Most of them fled under her crimson stare and it made her feel superior for once. It hadn't occurred to her yet that she was acting like her Master, but there was a difference in their actions. He did it for fun; she did it to be hated.

Or so she kept telling herself.

She was tired of being seen as a monster, so she might as well give them an eyeful of what they thought she really was. Maybe that way, they'll be convinced and then leave her alone. She never said she didn't enjoy giving them the scare of their life. It just wasn't in her character. When the door leading to the impending doom (she snickered at the nickname) came into view she changed her facial expression for an aloof one and sauntered inside without bothering to knock.

A single lamp that stood perched over a long blonde-haired woman's paperwork illuminated the office. A welcoming blue carpet was stretching from the entrance to under the desk where sat a wastepaper basket filled to the rim and various objects from all over the world were decorating the beige colored walls. Three huge windows in the back gave an intimidating look to the furiously scribbling leader of the Hellsing Organization and the moonlight was casting eerie shadows across her beautiful features.

She caught a glimpse of Alucard's red coat in a dark corner and restrained the urge to look his way. She didn't even want to know what he was doing in his master's office. She pretended to look indifferent about the situation and focused her attention on anything but the old fashioned woman in front of her and her Master.

"What have you got for me tonight, Sir Integral?" she leaned down to examine the intricate design of a gun that was hooked on the left wall.

She heard and saw the exhale of a deep puff, "It has been four months and a half ever since you were attacked and from the lack of information you have given us we were unable to catch your aggressor. Just waiting around won't solve the situation either. Are you sure you have nothing else on the man?"

"Nope," she withdrew a heavy leather-bound book from a nearby shelf and fiddled with the straps.

Integral sighed a little angrily, "Could you at least look at me when I'm speaking, Agent Victoria?"

"No can do, Boss. I might scare you with my ugly eyes," she chuckled.

Seras could almost taste the other woman's frustration in the air. Inattentive, the brown book she held slipped from her fingers and landed with a dull 'thud'. Muttering an unconvincing 'whoops', she put it back in its place. She sniffed the air and her face puckered into a sour expression as she smelled cigar smoke.

"You know," she gazed up at the ceiling to see the swirling gray clouds, "smoking is a really bad habit. You should stop while you still can. It causes a lot of trouble -"

"What are you talking about?! This has nothing to do with our meeting!!" Integral screeched.

"- yellow teeth, cancer, asthma, curled fingernails and the like," she continued, "Have you ever tried Nicorette gu-" she abruptly stopped when she felt the ominous presence of Alucard beside her.

"Enough, police girl."

She pouted and threw an accusing glare to an innocent painting of a waterfall. A tiny part of herself wondered whether or not she should disobey but she dismissed the thought in case what Integral had to say was worth her time. Putting a step or two of distance between her and Alucard, she feigned ignorance while dusting some imaginary particles off her shirt.

Integral cleared her throat, "Now, as I was saying, due to Blake's inactivity in the past months I wanted to know if you were ready to take back your post of hunter. Of course, your curfew will be removed and you will be able to roam freely at night. Even if I'd advise you not too," she paused.

This time, Seras did look at Integral. She eagerly nodded her head as if to encourage her to continue, "You have my undivided attention."

Alucard's smirk got wider and Integral merely lifted a delicate eyebrow. She had been nothing but rude in the beginning of the conversation and now that she was interested, she reverted back to her polite self.

"The other two rules will remain though," Seras frowned a little, "So if you want to go back on the field, you'll have to respect them. Is it a deal?"

The short woman saluted, "Yes, Sir Integral," dropping her stance, she asked, "When do I start?"

She took a drag of her small cigar, "Whenever you're needed. You can dispose now."

Seras smiled as she thanked Integral and left without even acknowledging her Master. He doesn't bid her farewell so why should she? It was better to say nothing than to start another argument.

Integral thoughtfully intertwined her fingers, "She didn't even spare you a glance and acted as though you weren't there. Isn't that insubordination?"

He tilted his head so that his glasses reflected light, "It must be that time of the month…"

The corner of her right eye twitched as she ignored the last statement, "She looked like she wanted to disobey your order of silence. Why don't you punish her?"

"She's determined to make me lose my cool and get me angry so she disregards most of my orders."

"Reminds me of someone…"

Alucard's only response was to bend his hat lower over his eyes and smirk.

*************

Seras happily sauntered into the kitchen where she found Walter busily making some tea. She greeted him with a huge smile, which he returned, and opened the fridge to help herself to one pack of chilled blood and in less than a minute, it was empty. Walter watched her knowingly at the sudden change of mood.

"Is it safe to say that what Sir Integral had to tell was positive?" he asked with a twinkle in the eye.

She grinned, "Walter, you wouldn't believe the good news I just received…" she hopped onto the counter next to him, "I'm back on the field! It's about time! I thought I was going to become the next butler in line. No offense."

He chuckled, "None taken. I'm happy for you. Though, I can't deny the fact that I already knew."

"You did?" she wondered with a hint of her old childish behavior.

"Not only did I know but I also helped Alucard convincing Sir Integral on letting you go back to your original post. It wasn't really hard with the two of us on her but she still thought it was a bad idea," he looked at her bewildered expression and added, "You know she only wants to prevent anymore harm done to you…"

Seras slid down to the floor and approached him. He waited patiently but curiously for her to say or do something. Without warning, she scooped him up in a bear hug and lifted him a few inches off the ground. He gave a startled cry but laughed nonetheless.

She sniffed, "Thank you, Walter. I owe you one."

He awkwardly patted her back as his arms were crushed underneath hers, "Don't mention it. Consider this a gift from all the work you helped me with during your short house arrest and you owe me nothing. And Miss Victoria?" he wheezed out the last part.

"What is it?"

"Could you put me down? I'm lacking on air supply and I'm not as young as I'd like you to believe…"

She had the decency to blush at her mistake.

*************

"All right, here's the plan. The whole church ground is infested of ghouls so teams of five will slowly advance while keeping them busy. We'll dispatch each team in different corners, effectively surrounding the infected area, but not too far away from each other in case some of you have problems. Be wary of clear patches because the trees can hide ambush parties, though I doubt they're intelligent enough to do so. This will provide enough time for Agent Victoria to eradicate the head vampire. Everyone already knows their position so, MOVE OUT!"

"E-excuse me, sir…" a young man asked timidly.

"What is it? Oh! You must be the newbie. Sorry, I forgot about you. What's your name, sonny?" the commander wondered.

"M-Miguel, sir."

"Okay, lad. You stay with me and don't wander without me. This is your first mission, right?" Miguel nodded, "Good, then I'll give you some pointers." They left to their own position and he directed the younger man on various things.

Seras didn't stay put any longer either for she had a job to do and gunshots were already starting to echo. Readjusting the weight of her trusty Halconnen, she sprinted towards the old building with a grim expression. She knew the path to take and she recognized many places as she skimmed through the thick foliage. There was that same tree where her late teammate had laid against…

She shook the memory out of her head and focused ahead. It was her second time here in Cheddars but she couldn't let that bother her. Back at headquarters, her Master had actually _asked_ her if she wanted him to go instead of her. She got angry and told him she could handle it herself. Her pride hadn't allowed her to accept his offer because he still thought she was weak and it had infuriated her. She wanted to prove him she was capable of surpassing her emotions and do her job like she was supposed to. Even though, a small part of her couldn't help but feel overjoyed by his concern.

The determined woman noticed a small crowd of moaning zombies and didn't even give them a chance to react as she plowed right through them. She slowed her pace temporarily to wrench out a forearm that had attached itself to her hair and resumed her speed. She had forgotten how easily they could lose their body parts. After all, it was only her third mission this week and a long absence of more than four months tended to do that to someone.

As she neared the abandoned building, Seras discreetly hid behind bushes. The entrance was swarming of limping undead and the number clearly indicated that the one controlling them was indeed inside. It would pose a problem to get in, but not for a girl like Seras. She cocked Halconnen so she would only destroy the zombies and not the church and shot.

The resulting explosion forced her to close her eyes and shield them from debris that flew her way. When the warm gust of wind died down, she leapt to her feet after recharging her cannon and killed the few remaining ghouls. Most of them were scattered throughout the field, crawling with whatever member they had left and trying to bite her legs. She spared them the trouble by cruelly squashing their heads and the three left standing quickly turned to ashes with swift jabs piercing their chests.

Seras observed the double-doors half-expecting them to burst open and half-dreading the moment she'd went inside. She paused to catch her breath, or rather to steel her quivering nerves and listened to the battlefield surrounding her and the occasional screams. They were holding up their part but she had to hurry in case some trouble erupted. Squaring her shoulders and cracking her neck for good luck, she carefully pushed the already busted door open and peered inside. Nothing seemed abnormal at first glance. Dirty floor tiles, dusty shelves, a few cobwebs here and there, and broken windows were the only things worth noticing.

Letting her small frame cross the short distance from outside to inside, the door slammed shut by itself. She didn't even bat an eye as she focused on a particular corner ahead where she had lived her first minutes of the life of an undead. Suddenly, a glint to her immediate right moved and she dodged the incoming blow but not fast enough as Halconnen was knocked away. Reacting on instincts, Seras back-flipped further away and stroke a defensive stance.

Standing before her was a little girl who looked no older than twelve years old. Her small red eyes indicated she was of Asian origin and her dark brown hair was in a high ponytail held by a ridiculously long crimson ribbon. She was wearing a knee-length purple dress that had two slits which went up past her hips and was decorated with embroidered black vines. Underneath there was a pair of jungle green pants those ended mid-calves and had many pockets, which she suspected weren't empty at all, and only two tiny triangles of white porcelain skin could be seen on her sides. She also had matching elbow-length gloves that were cut off before the knuckles, exposing her dainty fingers. The glint she had seen was the pair of sais reflecting the light the girl held expertly in her hands. Seras almost felt sorry for the poor kid but orders were orders and she had to execute them.

"Hmm…" the kid-vampire twirled the sais and Seras watched mesmerized by the beauty of that simple motion, "So you're the one. I have been waiting…" she said in a high-pitched voice devoid of emotions.

The former police woman quirked an eyebrow, "What do you mean 'I'm the one'?"

The girl giggled without humor, "I was getting tired of hearing him talking about you. He babbles too much, that Blake…"

Her weird accent made it hard for Seras to understand what she had said but she had caught the name. She stood alert and strained her senses to their fullest in order to scan for any other life forms. It proved useless when she only felt the humans she worked with and the telltale of trapped souls in zombies. He wasn't here but she wouldn't let that fool her. Maybe he was too well hidden for her to detect him.

"Do not bother," she slashed at the air to get her attention, "He has others things to attend to tonight."

"Who are you?" she growled menacingly.

"My born name was stripped away from me long ago and I am now referred to as Junko. Remember it."

With that said, she lunged at Seras. Rapidly dodging the first assault, the blond-haired woman parried the slashes as best as she could. She was quickly overwhelmed though, when her back hit the wall and since Junko barely reached Seras' shoulders it was easy for the little girl to aim for her heart and she was about to strike with her right sai.

The Hellsing Agent did the only thing she could and ducked. Luckily, it only scratched her cheek and before Junko could remove the weapon from the wall, Seras kicked her legs from under her. She had just enough time to jump over her and retrieve Halconnen. She didn't have the intention of blowing the place up, but use it as a shield instead. Her opponent gracefully got up with an extra swipe at her. Seras winced behind her extra-large cannon at the sound of metal hitting metal.

__

Walter is going to kill me for this…

She used Halconnen as a leverage and swung around to land a kick to her side. The kid-vampire tore through the rotting benches as she flew to the end of the room with a stifled cry. Meanwhile, Seras fished out a handgun and aimed it towards the area where she could hear the girl coughing and spitting dust. Her wide red eyes scanned for her weak points and waited for them to appear.

"I must admit," she coughed, "you are not bad. I can see why he chose you. You were bitten by a higher vampire than I was, but it won't help you against me. I have centuries of experience ahead of you."

Junko emerged from a mountain of planks and was nonchalantly dusting her ripped clothes. Immediately locking on her chest, Seras knew she shouldn't hesitate but something stopped her. Work was top priority here and personal matters should wait but the desire to know more made her stop. Unfortunately, someone had other plans and sent an order directly into her mind.

__

SHOOT!

Surprised to hear her Master, she almost pulled the trigger at the commanding voice but another disturbance caused her to halt once again. This one, though, was very unwelcome.

"H-help! Help us, please!" screamed a soldier after bursting through the entrance.

Seras whipped her head around to see the frightened newbie panting but she quickly realized her mistake as Junko used the distraction to her advantage. Just before the kid threw her remaining sai towards the man, Seras yelled at him to duck or run away but he was petrified in fear. Knowing she wouldn't reach him in time with Halconnen, she let the huge weapon fall to the ground and rushed over to him.

Everything seemed to go slow motion. The sai piercing the air, Junko's hands going to her pockets, her shoes thumping the ground, her cannon clattering loudly behind her, Miguel shaking fearfully… Strangely, she was aware of every single thing going on around her. She couldn't let him die. She had lost enough people in her life. She'd trade their souls for hers if she could. He'd live and she'd live too, saving them both. No one was going to die tonight. Not even her adversary.

Her body shielded his as she stood in front of him and, at the last moment, she deflected the deadly three-fingered claw with her silver gun but the sheer force of it propelled her only means of defense away from her hand. Never stopping her offensive, Junko flung very sharp shurikens at her. Eyes widening, she protected her most vulnerable spot at the cost of her left arm. She was able to swing most of them sideways and ignored those that cut deep into her legs and arms. After three rounds, Seras had enough time to shove the newbie out of the way so she could move more freely but when she turned around, it was too late.

The first shuriken embedded half of itself just under her breasts while she saw the second one flying straight to her face and then, after the searing pain in her right eye, she couldn't see anything. She howled fiercely and clutched the wounded areas.

"Interesting… You willingly placed yourself in a dangerous position in order to protect him. How noble of you. I can now see what he meant when he said you were dedicated to humans. It's pitiful, really."

"Shut up!" she panted, "You know nothing!"

With a pained cry, Seras savagely tore the metallic star-shaped projectile from her eye and tossed it in the general direction of the voice hoping to even just scratch her. She opened her uninjured and teary eye just in time to see Junko catch it casually like it was the most normal thing to do for her and, indeed, it was.

Her tone took on a note of iciness, the first sign of emotion in her voice ever since their encounter, "Enough pleasantries, I have come to deliver a message to you from my Master."

"All this just for a stupid message? This jackass is totally eccentric…" she muttered.

Every trace of accent whatsoever disappeared and it was as if someone else was talking when she spoke an octave or two lower, "_You have recovered well, princess. I'm pleased that you finally decided to come back to your old routine. It seems the cold lady Hellsing that is your boss didn't want to let you go, and with reason might I add. Watch her well. She's next,_" she returned to normal, "That is all I had to say. Until we meet again, Miss Victoria."

With a graceful bow, Junko melted into the darkness and was gone. Enraged, she ripped out the last metallic star from her chest and forcefully threw it on floor where it decided to stick upwards, almost daring her to try and do that again. She tasted her own blood and flicked out her tongue to clean her bleeding lips. She must have bit them sometime during the fight. Hearing urgent shouts outside, Seras turned to the sniveling human.

"Get up."

He looked up at her still in shock, "I-I-I c-can't move my l-legs."

She sighed, "What was it that you wanted me to help you with?"

He swallowed with difficulty, "A-are you Seras Victoria, the v-vampire unit?"

She easily picked him up by the collar with her left arm as the right one was busy hiding a surely very ugly wound on her face, "Look at me and tell me if you're wrong."

His feet were hovering an inch or so from the floor and he lightly shook his head 'no'. She let go and he fell on his rump with an 'oof'. Collecting her gun and Halconnen, she asked him what was the problem.

He stood up on unsteady feet, "The Commander was r-requesting your immediate assistance because we were struggling with the number of zombies."

"You idiot!" she snapped at him, "That's what you had to tell me in the first place! Load your gun and follow me. Don't leave my side, understood?"

"Y-yes, b-but your eye, Ma'am…"

When he reminded her, she felt the warm blood seeping through her glove and winced but remained firm, "One day or two of sleep will heal it, now move it!!!!!!"

They rushed outside to help and terminate the last of the ghouls. While she rescued her teammates, Seras couldn't help but feel betrayed by her Master. He had butted in her fight and had directly ordered her to shoot Junko against her will. And she almost did. He had been watching her all along which meant he also heard the message she had wanted to keep to herself. Damn that No Life King, always around and never missing a thing.

__

There's just no escaping him.

Plus, Integral will probably berate her for letting the enemy escape and Alucard will tell her something like she's a weak and useless vampire. Oh well… At least, she'll be able to yell at him and get yelled at. Just great.

*************

A/N: Whew! My first real action scene. Not bad, if I say so myself. But I've been wondering… Do the new characters make you feel like it's not a Hellsing fic anymore? I don't know… I thought it might annoy people but you have to agree with me, we need bad guys and some characters are going to be sacrificed pretty soon (well, in two or three chapters, anyway…). I'm sure you would strangle me if I decided to kill Walter, right? And don't worry, I don't plan to. I'll try really really really hard to make those that are going to stick around longer than others as small as possible, okay?

Oh, oh! In the next chapter you guys are going to have a sweet Alucard/Seras moment. So stay with me until the next update!


	5. Mind Games

Disclaimer: I do not own Hellsing.

A/N: Well, I can't say I'm proud of myself. I'm sorry to have left you all hanging like that for a good two months (or was it three?). School has unfortunately taken away most of my free time. I'm steadily piling up a rather large amount of work and I'm getting a little stressed and overwhelmed. I've failed a whole lot of tests so you don't mind if I study more and write less, right? I hope you'll all understand if I can't promise steady updates but the story WILL continue! Here's the long awaited chapter five! Enjoy it while it's fresh and new!

Chapter 5: Mind games

*************

They rushed outside to help and terminate the last of the ghouls. While she rescued her teammates, Seras couldn't help but feel betrayed by her Master. He had butted in her fight and had directly ordered her to shoot Junko against her will. And she almost did. He had been watching her all along which meant he also heard the message she had wanted to keep to herself. Damn that No Life King, always around and never missing a thing.

__

There's just no escaping him.

Plus, Integral will probably berate her for letting the enemy escape and Alucard will tell her something like she's a weak and useless vampire. Oh well… At least, she'll be able to yell at him and get yelled at. Just great.

*************

A slender woman was peacefully sitting in a comfortable cushioned chair facing large windows.

__

Stomp!

In her hands, instead of the ever present small cigar, she held a very expensive looking cup of steaming tea, which she was slowly sipping from, and next to her was the whole set of china dishes on a tray.

__

Stomp! Stomp!

Oblivious to the oncoming danger, she relished her last moments of relaxation.

__

STOMP! STOMP! STOMP! BLAM!

Startled, the young lady swiveled her chair towards the slammed open doors, a curtain of platinum blond hair hiding the left part of her face for a moment and immediately falling back in place, revealing surprised deep blue irises behind round glasses.

An angry girl stood in the frame, disheveled strawberry blond hair, a single glaring red eye, the other hidden behind bloodstained hair, baring white fangs, dirty clothes, legs spread widely apart, clenched fist. And it didn't help things that her weapon was trailing behind her with a devious glint. Everything about her body language screamed anger and frustration. The fury in her offensive posture was almost crossing the lines of madness. Even a normally invisible aura was glowing in different shades of red and orange around her like a blazing firewall.

It surprised her but she wasn't _that_ impressed.

"Where is he?!" the girl seethed.

"Who? Walter?" the older woman responded, confused at her behavior.

"No, your faithful servant, my Master, the No Life King, Alucard!"

She wrinkled her brows, "I don't know. I can order him around but I can't find him for you if he doesn't want to be found. He'll pop up sooner or later, you know that as well as I do. Why? Is there a problem, Agent Victoria? "

"Well, if you order him around then perhaps you can enlighten me!" Seras said spitefully, "Did you tell him to follow me, to spy on me like the untrustworthy employee that I am? Did you, Integral?!"

"I have absolutely no idea what…" she was cut off.

Seras banged the desktop causing a thin line to spread under her fist and on the now cracked glass cover, "Don't play dumb with me! I've been looking for Master for well over an hour and I don't need your bullshit! I'm angry enough to tear the whole damn mansion apart and I bet he's just laughing his ass off somewhere where I can't see him but he can! He had no right to intrude in _my_ mission!"

The former police officer was about to go into another fit but Integral beat her to it, "So what?"

"Ex-excuse me?" she asked, a little put off by the answer.

Delicately setting her mug down, Integral stood up with all the grace only a woman can muster, "So what if he 'intruded' in your mission? I don't know what happened in your mission as I haven't received the report yet, and I don't know what you think I supposedly did, but your are his responsibility and he can do whatever he judges proper to your upbringing into the dead life. If he suddenly decided to get rid of you, I could care less because I never wanted another vampire under my roof. Alucard was enough work to deal with and he did his job alone without too much complaining. Then, _you_ arrived from God knows where and decided to twist every single bad luck that's happened to you into thinking it was the whole world's fault. Well, guess what? It isn't!"

After hearing this, Seras couldn't control herself and lunged at the Hellsing heir, Halconnen falling from her shoulder. But things did not go her way when cold metal was firmly applied to her forehead and stopped her dead in her tracks. Stacks of paper were fluttering to the floor in swirls and many objects for writing purpose had been disturbed throughout the plain surface.

Sky blue eyes gazed at her with frighteningly cold calculation, "Don't force me to shoot you. I hold no grudge against you for this assault but if I must, I will exterminate you myself. Alucard or no."

Cold sweat glistened in the dim light and Seras swallowed audibly. She'd gone overboard and she knew it. Slowly, she raised her hands in a surrendering motion and slid down from her crouching position on the desk to the carpet. She bit the inside of her cheek to relieve some of the emotions welling up in her and shuddered when she felt the skin break.

She opened her mouth but only a strangled sound came out and she tried again, "I-I am sorry, Sir Hellsing. I was out of line."

Integral sighed and dropped the gun on the desk, the cannon facing her innocently yet threateningly, "Seras, what am I going to do with you? You've changed so much in the past months and I can't seem to keep track of your mood swings. I don't know how to tell you this but," she paused, "I'll put it bluntly. I think you should no longer work for Hellsing."

Now, if Seras ever thought seeing Alucard prancing around in a pink tutu singing some girlie song wasn't unexpected, this was. Is she not performing well enough at her job? Or is the fact that she became another person without her noticing? A most disagreeable one at that. And…where would she live?? After willingly turning into a vampire, she had lost everything. As a human she had lost her house, her job, her belongings…a huge shred of her identity. To them, she was missing, gone, forgotten…dead.

She stared at the woman, speechless.

"I'm not saying it's already been decided. I'm saying you should consider it. To get away from violence and stress."

"You're kicking me out? Where am I gonna go?" Seras asked suddenly.

"No, I'm not kicking you out. You'll still live here and we'll protect you from Blake, but you just won't be doing anymore work for us. I think it's for the best," she said gently, too gently for Seras' taste.

She snapped, "You can't do that! Because…because…" she frantically searched for a reason, "Blake's after you!" she finally blurted.

Integral looked at her, skeptical, "He's after you, not me."

"Today," she started a little hesitantly, "he sent one of his underling to deliver me a message. Basically, it said you were his next prey…"

Seras nervously ducked her head and examined her boots while Integral's expression turned sour. The smaller of the two girls could guess that her Master's master was tired of being told she was next on the list. But Integral is no average woman. No, she is the leader of the famed and prestigious Hellsing Organization where people regularly risk their lives to rid the world of evil. Someone has to do the job and the Iscariots are a bit too messy. Even if Seras was a little angry at Integral for saying the truth about her blaming every misfortune on the company, she would protect her. Alucard has protected his master for more than ten years and she will continue to do so to honor her Master and her friend.

Integral took a sip of her cold tea and turned towards the windows, "What happened to the delivery boy?"

"Um, delivery girl actually, and she…uh, I kind of let her escape?" she uttered with uncertainty when she was startled back from her thoughts.

Another heavy sigh, "Great," she mumbled.

Seras thought it wise to remain quiet when she saw Integral wasn't about to give her a tongue-lashing for her mistake. She was tempted to apologize but a simple 'sorry' doesn't cut it in business matters. The silence unnerved her a little and she almost wished Integral was screaming her head off just to fill the void. If she focused her senses, she could hear the faint humming of cars little ways from here and the rustling of dead leaves falling with the autumn wind.

"What are we going to do then?" Seras broke the creepy atmosphere.

"For now, nothing. But you could do something…" she trailed off mysteriously, chin in between two fingers.

The police girl perked up at the idea of helping Integral and wondered what it was.

"Take a shower, Seras," she laughed.

*************

SLAM!

She was _so_ going to strangle him. No, on second thought, she was going to kill him _then_ strangle him. Seras was too angry to realize the absurdity of her thoughts, but if she did she wouldn't have cared either way as long as it contained the promise of murder. The point is, she was furious. Wiping some dirt from her face, she also smoothed her previously wounded cheek to ensure the scratch from her earlier fight had healed properly. An itching to her right eye reminded her of its precarious state but she ignored it. The damaged Halconnen was carelessly flung in a corner and when it landed, another bump could be added to the count. She sat on the only chair in her bedroom and nervously shook her leg.

__

Calm down, breathe, and clear your mind.

After a few moments, Seras was finally controlled enough so she wouldn't destroy everything on sight. She had searched for Alucard another thirty minutes before supposedly taking her recommended shower but in vain. Sighing, she crouched next to her cannon and propped it up against the brick wall. She sadly trailed the deep gashes on the metal shell with a gloved hand and mentally asked for forgiveness to her powerful friend.

It wasn't just a weapon for her. After all, it had saved her from a lot of pain more than once and today was no exception. She would have hugged it if she didn't feel so silly about it. It was one thing to think of it as a friend, but actually acting like it was a living thing was another. People thought she was a little on the insane side and she didn't really like the idea of proving them right.

Seras gathered Halconnen and shrugged it on. Looking at it decaying in a lonely corner all dirty and scratched up made her feel depressed so she might as well give it to Walter for repair. As she walked to the room where she first received it, she hoped the multi-purpose man wouldn't be there when she arrived. She feared his reaction because it was the first time she actually had to bring a battered cannon for reparation. She looked to both sides of the corridor, making sure nobody was in the area, before cracking the door open. It was dark and her pupils instantly adjusted.

Relief washed over her features when she noticed Walter was indeed absent (he has a creepy habit of being everywhere at the same time) and she fully entered the weaponry. Flipping a switch on, light flooded from a lamp loosely hanging on the ceiling and produced a long row of obscured firearms of different sizes and magnitude. Seras spotted an unoccupied table and rested her very own weapon down on it. She was about to go back to her quarters, but a pang of guilt stopped her. She couldn't just _leave_ it there without a word…

**************

Walking back from the weaponry, Seras wore a small smile on her lips, the first sign of happiness in the whole night.

__

Walter is soooo going to freak out when he sees this…

The smile on her face soon faded when she felt the presence of her Master as she neared her room. So, _now_ he decided to show up. She convinced herself to stay calm and not overreact, to handle this as an adult. She agreed with Integral. He has every right to do as he pleases with her, such was the master-slave relationship. Even beat her to a pulp if the envy ever got to him. But he would never hurt her just for the fun of it. Right? Only a little slap here and there to get his point across when she didn't want to understand his point of view.

Taking one last steadying breath, she opened the door and was met with the back of Alucard's red duster. He had hidden his hair in his coat, giving the impression that they were short. When he heard the faint click of the closing door he turned around. She was glad to see his eyes, for once not shielded by yellow-tinted glasses. He grinned and his look had the usual gleam of madness in them.

"You were looking for me?"

"How did you guess? I didn't think screaming your name all over the place had actually reached your ears," she said sarcastically, crossing her arms.

He tisked softly, "Now now, my pet. I thought you told yourself you would stay calm."

He's been peering in her thoughts again, that man…

She frowned angrily and huffed, "I am calm. You didn't see me try and strangle you upon sight."

She felt something being shoved in her mind and gasped at the image that had been sent. Her and her Master in a compromising position while she wrestled him to the floor, trying to get a good stranglehold. And boy, did he look pleased in that picture.

"Like that?" his husky tone made her shudder.

Her heart rate increased and she could tell her cheeks were flushed. Why was he doing this? Did he take pleasure in torturing and seeing her squirm uncomfortably before him? Another image was forced through, more daring this time as they were both half undressed and touching each other intimately, and made her forget any coherent thoughts. She vaguely remembered seeing those but couldn't quite place her finger on it. They were so familiar…

His sudden closeness didn't go unnoticed when she peered into his clear eyes only a few inches away. Hers were clouded with lust and need, almost blinded with passion. She blinked rapidly to look closer into his bottomless orbs to discover his intentions but to no avail. Her knees felt like marshmallows and they threatened to collapse on the cold hard floor. It got worse when he bent towards her ear and she shivered at his breath.

"Do you know where these come from?" he whispered.

Putting a trembling hand on her temple, she meekly shook her head. He took a step and forced her to back away with his body, almost making her fall in the process. A few more steps later, she was pinned between Alucard and a wall. No escape.

Her chest brushed his when it hitched up with an unsuccessfully stifled moan as another picture appeared in her mind's eye, making her dizzy. A tongue, _his_ tongue, sensually sliding down her neck, coming closer ever so painfully slowly to her exposed breasts. His nimble hands caressing her thighs, fingers leaving her skin burning just after his lightest touch…

"It's funny really. I never thought you to be such a sexually frustrated thing as you are still untouched. The images I'm currently sending you come directly from your own dreams, police girl."

She hardly heard him as he tucked a lone strand of hair behind her ear and pressed harder into her but not enough to hurt. Trapped between cold and warm, she trembled helplessly. So she actually dreamed such explicit moments while her Master leisurely picked them up? She always projected her thoughts when she was so damned emotive. She'd have to work on that…

"Because of our shared link, I saw them all. They've kept me awake when I was trying to sleep and they've kept me busy when I was awake. Some things never change and the effect sex has on me is definitely one of them. But, recently, I haven't had the chance of reading your usually pleasant dreams."

Trying to regain a semblance of control, she held her hands in front of him and whispered, "S-stop, please…"

He ignored her, "I sleep too much these days and I hate it when I do that. Those dreams, Seras… I want them back!"

He ground his hips into hers and placed his hands on both sides of her head, making her feel imprisoned. She thought for a moment that he was going to kiss her when he bent forward, but he seemed to change his mind as the smell of dried blood wafted in his nostrils. He gingerly nuzzled her cheek and gave a tentative lick that made her skin crawl with delight. His right arm played with her torn collar and yanked it down, exposing her scarred neck. He absently brushed her mark with a gloved finger as he continued to explore her face with his tongue.

His feather-like touches on her two round scars threw her back to the time she first met him. That day, that fateful meeting, changed her forever.

When she accepted to become one of his kind, he had expertly kissed away the trail of blood that had been dribbling down her chin and nipped at her lower lip to taste more of her. He made a trail of light kisses from her cheek to her neck and gently lifted her to a sitting position, careful not to upset the gaping hole in her chest. He smelled her weakening pulse and gave a guttural sound of ecstasy. Licking it several times, he swiftly embedded two very sharp canines and she gasped in surprise.

She had expected whatever it was that he meant to do with her would hurt. But she felt nothing except a tiny prickle and was then assaulted by pure pleasure, almost raw in its intensity. Sometimes he would suck softly and the next second he would suck harder, brutally taking enormous gulps of blood and letting out sickening grunting noises as she writhed beneath. She wanted to wrap her arms around him but they felt heavy, limping beside her, and each time he swallowed, she couldn't help but moan out loud.

After a while, she started getting dizzy and numb, the darkness engulfing her sight. She thought she was dead and somewhere along the way, she heard a faint 'You're mine' coming from the creature above her. When she woke up, she found herself wrapped in a blanket of some sort and in the arms the man that had saved (killed?) her.

Back to her present position, his hand had now moved on to caress the side of her breast, his thumb playing dangerously close to her nipple. The memories of her turning making her flush with desire for that same feeling she had recognized as sexual pleasure. She _needed_ him…

It had to stop.

Seras felt like she was going to explode of…of what? She didn't know, as her knowledge of words was too limited to describe exactly what she felt like. But her body absolutely refused to let go of it and her mind was still being bombarded of dirty movies she had created in her own slumber. Pain was the only solution to snap her out of it and she did something she would regret seconds later.

She poked her wounded eye and blood ran anew down her face.

When the pain registered in her brain, she yelped out and Alucard instantly stopped diffusing erotic scenes in her head but didn't remove himself from her, though his tongue and hands had stopped their ministrations. He looked at her with an amused smile.

"W-what was that…?" she panted.

"You're stronger than I thought, police girl. You broke away from my mind control earlier than expected. Good."

"You mean… those weren't really my dreams?"

He looked sideways, "No, I meant every word," reverting his gaze to her, he added, "And I still want those back."

Tired, Seras laid her head on his shoulder and closed her only functional eye. Her body hadn't fully recovered from the strength of those emotions and she wasn't sure if she could stand by herself when he'd move away. Now there was something she had wanted to tell him, but, for the life of her, she couldn't remember…

They remained like this until Alucard grabbed her chin.

Moving her bloodstained hair to the side, he examined the injured eye and said, "You may have impressive regenerative powers compared to humans, but you shouldn't leave an injury like this one unattended."

"And why not? It's going to heal sooner or later just like any other wound."

"Not necessarily. Some organs are still prone to infection and the eyes are the most fragile of all. Especially for someone like you who is still in the metamorphosis process."

"Really? Is this the reason why you always wear glasses?" she asked curiously.

He chuckled, "No, I wear them because it makes me look stunning!"

Seras blinked at that remark but before she could respond he scooped her in his arms.

"Hey! What are you doing!?"

"Taking you to the bathroom. What does it look like?"

She crossed her arms and humphed indignantly, "I can walk by myself, you know."

"Of course. You weren't hanging on me because your legs were shaking terribly, you just felt tired and wanted to rest your head on my shoulder. Please," he snorted, a sound she found unfitting for him, "after sustaining such a, let's say, mind-blowing experience I'm surprised to hear you want to walk by your on strength."

Her cheeks turned a pleasant pink color, "Well, I…"

He cut her off, "Shut up, don't give me any excuse, and enjoy the ride."

She shut up. If he was going to be so damned insistent about taking her bridal-style to the washroom, she might as well get comfortable. Her arms snaked their way to his neck and clasped her hands together. He didn't comment but a thin smile was all she needed to confirm his assent to her rather bold (well, what she considered bold) actions. Maybe she would enjoy the ride after all. It wasn't every day she got the chance to be carried like this by Alucard. Except maybe the first time they met.

The redness on her cheeks spread to her ears as they made their way through the corridor where some of the personnel was staring at the two of them. Did they have to look so shocked? She tightened her grip on his neck and shyly buried her nose in his clothes. Inhaling deeply, she made an approving sound. He smelled wonderfully nice. Spicy cologne, something unutterably Alucard, and…cigar smoke? At that realization, her shoulders slumped a little and her heart sank.

__

Integral… Figures.

When they reached destination, he sat her down on the counter after removing some objects that were in the way with one strong arm still holding her.

"Keep your hair out of the way," he told her absently while rummaging in the cabinet.

Seras did as requested, tucking her bangs behind an ear, and neatly secured it with a convenient clip that had been littering around. Looking at her hands, she noticed she was still wearing bloody gloves and immediately took them off. She was tracing the remnants of a nicely healing cut near her stomach when her head was jerked up with a rough tug at her chin. His hands were soft but that was only because she felt his gloves.

"This is going to hurt like hell," he dabbed some antiseptic on a clean rug and held it in front of her.

She nodded and braced herself. When it came in contact, she gritted her teeth silently but remained passive exteriorly. No sign of pain. She could hear another part of her screaming in agony deep within and paid it no heed. She should get used to it by now. Her job was constantly bringing her nothing but pain.

__

Still… that shit stings!

The rest of his meticulous work was spent in silence. She was now sporting a white patch over her injury and he even went as far as to wash out the blood from her hair. Back in her room in less then a minute, Seras wanted nothing more than to sleep (when people play with her hair she gets drowsy) and Alucard sensed this.

"Now, if it itches, don't touch it. Let it itch. Get a lot of sleep and drink more blood than usual."

She grimaced at that, "Fine, fine. Anything else, Master?"

"Yes," his gaze held a predatory lust, "think of me tonight, police girl. Here's some inspiration..."

He grabbed her waist and planted a quick kiss on her lips. Surprised, she had no time to react and before she could, he was already gone. A whisper of warmth lingered where his hand and mouth had been, the only indication that what just happened was real. Her heart thumped loudly in her chest, blood rushed to her head, and she licked at her lips greedily, tasting the remnants of his kiss. Maybe she would dream of him…

Suddenly, she remembered the reason why she wanted to see him in the first place. Her mission… he purposefully made her forget about that!!

She smiled.

"That bastard…"

*************

--Meanwhile--

Walter was walking towards the armory in hopes of relaxing while creating some new toys for Alucard and Seras. Today had been a day he didn't want to live again. The daily cleaning, some plumbing work because of leaks, a little of paintwork, Integral's teatime had been terribly uncomfortable with her bitter comments (_maybe it's that time of the month,_ he thought secretly), and a new recruit had puked his guts all over the kitchen floor when he opened the fridge for a snack and found nothing but fresh blood packs neatly organized.

He was far from prepared when he saw a dirty, scraped up, and almost disemboweled Halconnen lying on a wooden table. He approached it with a trembling hand and remarked a small note attached. It said:

'I've been a bad girl. Please clean it up, thanks!'

Seras' name was hastily scribbled in cursive letters. The worst part was that the message was decorated with cheery red, blue, and yellow flowers. Too cheery for the state of the battered cannon.

"Today _really_ isn't my day…" he sighed dejectedly.

*************

A/N: Crap, crap, crap, and some more crap. I think this whole chapter sucks, especially the ending, and I'm dreadfully sorry. I just wanted to get it out while I had some spare time but I didn't really think all this through. So that's what you get. I hope you aren't too disappointed by the poor quality. Wish me luck for the next chapter.


	6. Insomnia

Disclaimer: I do not own Hellsing.

A/N: A bit long but it needs to be said/written for my sake. Don't bother with it though.

At the risk of flunking my incoming math test, (correction, I FAILED again) I decided to write some more and burn my notebook filled of algebra. Not that you guys care but I failed my class last term. For once, I'm the one freaking out and not my parents. Rare occurrence, huh? Anyway, it should explain my inactivity for so long.

I would just like to thank those of you who took the time to write me such valuable reviews because nothing is better than the support of others and it urged me to write more. Each time I received a review, I would get giddy with joy and jump on my bed for hours thanking whoever wrote it just to realize I should work more on my mathematics than my writing. So, you can imagine, MAJOR deception for me. I was sad for you guys too since I knew what it was like to wait forever for a frickin' chapter. I would tell you to be patient with me but I know it's hard since most authors seem to update very slowly and sometimes plainly stop adding new chapters without explanation. It's frustrating.

So I hope you will all understand my predicament. Enough said. Read on!

Chapter 6: Insomnia

He grabbed her waist and planted a quick kiss on her lips. Surprised, she had no time to react and before she could, he was already gone. A whisper of warmth lingered where his hand and mouth had been, the only indication that what just happened was real. Her heart thumped loudly in her chest, blood rushed to her head, and she licked at her lips greedily, tasting the remnants of his kiss. Maybe she would dream of him…

Suddenly, she remembered the reason why she wanted to see him in the first place. Her mission… he purposefully made her forget about that!!

She smiled.

"That bastard…"

"Are you sure she's the one we need?" A deep male voice asked.

"Positive," another figure responded, "I saw her myself and I can confirm that she will do perfectly."

The first voice remained silent in the darkness, pondering about his scheming.

"You're absolutely certain?"

A sigh.

"Yes, I am certain. Do you still doubt my abilities?" it demanded with a very small pinch of despair.

"Of course. Last time you almost got me killed."

The second figure laughed for good measures though it sounded empty, "Forgive me. I shall not miss you next time."

A resounding crack and a muffled grunt.

"Quiet. Remember your place, slave, or you'll spend the night with nothing else except me and the bed."

The girl shuffled to her feet after being hit and resumed her kneeling, showing the dark being nothing but respect and deference. She had to ignore the lightly pulsating scratches on her skin.

"I will, Master."

Seras lightly drummed her fingers on the table with a rhythmic beat. Her head was bobbing up and down at some music only she could imagine. The kitchen was empty except for herself and the quiet humming of the refrigerator.

She wasn't supposed to be up at this time and very much less be in the kitchen. It was against the rule. She should be waiting in her room for Walter to bring her ration but… for some reason she hadn't been able to sleep this morning. Hopefully, Master will let it go or not notice her lack of… creative dreams.

The vampire woman heard him even before he opened the door and looked his way, stopping her fingers.

"Miss Victoria!" Walter exclaimed, "What are you doing here?"

"I couldn't sleep," she answered simply.

"But it's," he rapidly consulted his pocket watch, "half passed nine! Surely you are getting sleepy?"

"As much as I'd like to be asleep, I just toss and turn in my coffin. And with all that activity, I got hungry and it didn't help my predicament. I figured I should wait for you here in order to warn you of my additional ration."

"I see… To be honest, I'm happy to see you aren't holding back on your rations anymore. I'm certain that you will even catch up to Alucard with his five packs a day!"

"Don't push it Walter…" Seras shook her head, "Just because I'm taking a supplement doesn't mean I'll make a habit of it."

He smiled knowingly anyway, "Anyway! Come with me, I'll show you where we stash your food."

Seras pointed to her left, "Um, isn't it in the fridge?"

"No, this is the new refrigerator for the soldiers' use only. I changed the other's location after some ignorant recruit felt the need for a snack and found the wrong one. I don't want to clean the remains of a partly digested meal ever again. I could even tell what was the last thing he ate… spaghetti," he remarked sourly. ()

She laughed out loud, "You mean he puked his guts on the floor?!"

He nodded, " I swear, those people are so soft-hearted! At least, _I _was prepared when I was that young, not some wimpy kid."

She slapped her thigh lightly in her mirth, "Oh, how I wish I could've seen it! When did that happen?"

"Two days ago, or more precisely, the day you brought me Halconnen all beat up," he said calmly and seriously.

The laughter died away and red crept up her cheeks.

"Oh, that…um… Hehe, you see…err…" Her redness spread to her neck.

"Don't worry, I was only teasing you. It's not like you _always_ bring it in bad condition…"

She silently agreed.

Walter's hand brushed against a precise spot on the wall and revealed an opening. A draft came out and she could smell the damp and musky air mixed with some kind of floral perfume she couldn't identify due to her lack of knowledge about flowers. Her eyes sharpened to see stone stairs leading deeper into the ground. She could only stare at the hole in the wall that wasn't there just a moment ago.

"A…a secret door?" Seras said puzzled.

Walter nodded, "It is, after all, an old mansion. Hidden pathways were fairly common when it was constructed so it isn't surprising to find some here."

"Is this the reason why you always pop out of nowhere when we least expect it?"

"Erm, a little I guess…" the embarrassed man responded, "And it's also the reason why the ceiling in the basement leaks so much on rainy days. I remember when Alucard used to complain about that and dragged me through the walls so I could fix it immediately."

He smiled at his fond memories and started descending. Seras followed him and at the precise time when she stepped in the cool corridor, the young vampire's injured eye began to itch as though it protested about the change of air. Her fingers curled stiffly as she restrained the natural reflex of rubbing the discomfort away and her own low growl rumbled in her ears. She tried to think about something else, but the harder she tried to forget, the harder her mind reminded her of how great it would feel to just touch the bandage and…

"Miss Victoria, I hope you're not planning on scratching your eye."

"But Walter…" she whined frustratingly, "It's practically driving me insane!! It's worse than chickenpox!"

__

"Daddy, make it stop!"

"Alright sweetie, let me give you a trick. Close your eyes and imagine yourself scratching those red dots... Imagine that the itch ebbs away... Imagine that you feel good... Imagine you never had chickenpox… Now, open your eyes. How do you feel?"

"I feel…nice. The itching is gone? Wow, it worked! You're the greatest daddy in the entire world!"

Her hand touched her uncomfortably creased forehead as a shadow of her smiling father flashed very quickly before her eyes, wondering where that sudden memory had come from.

"Dad…?"

"What did you say, Miss Victoria?"

Seras redirected her gaze on Walter who was looking back with confusion and she realized she had stopped in the middle of the stairs during her small reminiscing. Her father had called in sick at work because little seven-year-old Seras had caught chickenpox and he wanted to take care of his baby girl. He had spent the whole day with her bedridden and read his daughter one story after another with his slow and soothing voice that made her forget her illness. She fondly remembered when he thought she had finally fallen asleep, he had tucked her hair behind her ears until no strands covered her angelic face, a familiar gesture he had used for the only two women he had ever loved; her and her mother.

Fingertips slowly reached for blond locks and stroked them tenderly like she would a baby's cheek. Moisture gathered on the brink of the lower part of eyelid. She knew she missed her father but she thought she had gotten over it. Obviously, she hadn't.

Then she caught Walter again in her peripheral vision. He seemed uncomfortable and didn't know where to put himself.

She sniffled once and smiled a watery but genuine smile, her previous uneasiness all but gone, "I'm sorry. My memories caught me unprepared and I couldn't help it."

"I understand," he patted her lightly, "And once you've eaten, it's straight back to bed, young lady! It's because of your lack of rest that you are getting emotive. Are we clear on that?"

"Yeah, we are."

A couple more steps brought them into an open area that looked like a cavern and the smell of humid air coming from the outside was clearly stronger. The wide yet constricted room was built out of raw rocks with large wooden beams stuck in the ceiling, along with other small ones, to prevent it from collapsing. The construction was simple and seemed very sturdy as though no earthquake could ever move the foundation of this professional work. On the walls were hanged lamps, old-fashioned ones, which were strangely already lit and the crass on the window panels dimmed them a decent level of comfort.

In front of her stood a huge metallic black box, probably the fridge, that had two handle, one for the packages and the other for ice she rationalized, and a cheap table deprived of any chairs on which rested a familiar bucket. To the port side was a narrowed down pathway where darkness won over the faint lighting of the lamps but with her enhanced vision she could see the beginning of a rocky turn and when she stepped in front of the human-sized hole Seras felt a fairly windy draft. Curious about where it might lead, she made a move towards the tunnel and before she could even make a step, she was interrupted by Walter's voice once again.

"Here we are… Which type would you prefer, Miss Victoria?" he asked without taking his eyes off the burgundy goods.

A little caught off guard, Seras stuttered, "Uh, whichever is fine."

"Then AB it is. Here, catch."

Her head tipped lightly to the right and she deftly caught her food in one swift motion without the need to fully turn around thanks to her vampiric senses. Quickly, albeit carefully, she ripped the plastic tube open and suckled on it thoughtfully still looking at the drafty pathway.

"Say, Walter," she mumbled between clenched teeth reluctant to let go of the tasty drink, "where does this tunnel lead to? Another secret corridor perhaps?"

He shrugged, "It leads outside. If I remember correctly, that tunnel is about one or two miles long and then you emerge from the ground, away from the manor. I believe it was used as an emergency exit whenever there was an attack or something close to that."

"Have you ever used it yourselves to escape from danger?" she questioned again.

"Not that I know of," he scratched his chin and looked upwards, "Maybe Integral played here when she wasn't aware of her heritage yet. Alucard must also know of this place too, though I don't see what use it may procure to him beside a peaceful place to read."

The young woman muttered an 'oh' and stopped asking questions. After two additional gulps of fresh vitae, Seras released the straw and the second she did, her eyes flashed a vibrant red that gave her an almost healthy complexion, human wise, until they lost the beautiful color to return to the usual tarnished copper. Her belly was now satisfied, not too empty and not too full, and Seras felt she would finally be able to fall asleep, or at least hoped so.

As she bid goodnight to Walter and left to her quarters, she noticed the familiar pang of thirst. Her hunger was gone, but the thirst for more blood persisted after each meal she's had. She ignored the feeling quite easily at first since she didn't exactly know what it was and after experiencing it now and then, she understood. But that understanding worsened the thirst. Since she knew what her taste buds so desperately craved for, the maddening thought of doing something she would regret later just to get what she wanted seemed more and more appealing by the minute.

Seras chewed on her thumbnail and accelerated the pace to reach solace in her room, praying she wouldn't encounter any humans on her way for fear of biting that inviting and pulsing vein underneath all that porcelain white skin on a slender neck adorned by long, golden curtains of…

She paled.

Breaking into a run in the twists and turns of the corridors, Seras tried to block out the sick ideas forming in her head and that nagging voice by savagely pulling at her hair. The perturbed bloodthirsty vampire pumped her legs along stairs and blurry carpets without looking, only thinking about drowning out the disturbing and completely absurd voice murmuring words in complete confidence by telling them to shut up over and over again like a litany.

She jumped down the last five steps leading to the basement, skipped the first doors on the right wall until she recognized one that had cracks and lines she knew by heart. Seras fuddled with the handle with shaking hands before finally opening the door and sank to her knees in a messy heap. By then, some tears were trickling down her cheeks and her hair was disheveled, some locks clinging to the salty wetness.

"Stop!" she screamed angrily while shaking her head wildly from side to side, crisped hands on her ears.

__

DRINK HER BLOOD!!

"NO! I SAID STOP!"

Something brushed her mind lightly and immediately after she could feel the presence of Alucard. When he pronounced her pet name, the raging confusion in her mind retreated a little too conveniently at sound of her Master's powerful voice and nothing was left except a slight buzzing that reminded her of the aftermath of a heavy metal show.

He approached her without a word and crouched to pick her up, but Seras grabbed a handful of his bloody coat, burying her nose in his perfumed clothes at the same time, and held onto her Master like a lifeline, refusing to let go and preventing him from successfully straightening up. Alucard was in a strange position that seemed awkward and uncomfortable, though he didn't seem to mind holding her shaking form like this. He waited a moment longer for the shock to recede and spoke:

"Someone was able to seep through your mind barrier."

"…"

His piercing eyes peered at the top of her head, "I couldn't get a good feel of him because your emotions were too strong and it distracted me, so he escaped."

When she released her hold on him, he adjusted his more comfortably, but didn't get up just yet. The feel of him pressed against her considerably melted the layer of fear, reassuring her the danger had passed and would never come back.

"I-I thought I was going crazy… I thought those were… _my_ thoughts…" her voice cracked at the end and she could feel another wave of tears coming.

"The only reason why he penetrated your barriers so easily is because you are weak and tired from all the pressure you put on yourself. Stop trying to convince yourself and lean on those humans you seem so fond of if it helps you."

"But," her voice sounded desperate even to her own ears, "I'm sick of being weak and leaning on others. Besides, it'll kill them to support me. It always does."

Alucard remained silent at her uncharacteristic comment.

"They always die when they're with me… I prefer to die than to let it happen. Again."

At this Alucard grinned lightly, "Maybe you do… but you must realize that I'll never allow that. No human life may compare to the unlife of a future No Life Queen."

"Just because you are my Master it doesn't mean I'll achieve such a grandiose goal," Seras muttered, "You seem to forget I am still attached to my human side and I can feel it very strongly."

"So I gathered," he smirked, proud to have thwarted her attention somewhere else.

"Anyway, why are _you_ up?"

"Me? Oh, Integral has summoned me and said something about a mission."

Wondering why the information hadn't been forwarded to her too she asked, "Really? Will I also be dispatched?"

Alucard lazily lifted an eyebrow, "Even if you had, I would've objected."

Seras huffed lightly, "So what am I supposed to do now?"

"Rest."

She snorted, "That'll only worsen my case. I need to do something productive or I'll really go insane."

"Insanity never hurt anyone. Just look at me," he grinned his infamous grin.

"Ugh, fine! I'll stay."

After this, each got lost in his thoughts. Seras thinking about how unfair it was that her Master could blow off some steam on a couple of unlucky FREAKS and Alucard thinking about… well, just being Alucard. They remained like this for a little while longer until Seras decided she had abused enough of Alucard's time and stood up. She already missed the arms that had held her in a securing embrace, but she kept her thoughts in check.

"Um, thank you, Master. I… I think I'll go find some work to do since I'm awake anyway. Sleep is out of the question and— "

Suddenly, one of his arms lashed out and tightly gripped her shoulder, startling her. The other lifted her chin with a delicate finger and his head dipped towards hers. Seras' heart pumped wildly in excitement also making her breath hasten. When his eyes half-closed, she licked her lips in anticipation, Alucard's own exhalations drying them with warm air. When his nose bumped into hers, he began nuzzling her softly. His wonderful caresses rendered Seras helpless and she couldn't resist from making an appreciative noise. Her eyes fell on his mouth, parting hers; she fully expected a real kiss she could enjoy this time.

Decidedly, it wasn't meant to be.

As the No Life King's silken lips brushed hers, he shot her a wide-eyed look and Seras felt an invisible force go through her. Paralyzed by a strong kinetic hold, she could only obey to his commanding word:

"Sleep."

And the world became black.

It was still day when she woke up, meaning she had only slept an hour or two.

The world seemed a little hazy when Seras first came to, which disappeared shortly after she shook her head, and she had no idea how she had lost consciousness, except maybe something involving two glowing red eyes and a soft pair of lips meeting hers…

She blushed.

Master kissed her again! Giddy with joy, she couldn't help smiling like a fool. Despite her first thoughts of him and Integral being an item, Alucard seemed to prefer her over Integral. But… how come? They have always been so close, surely they must have shared a relationship. Alucard, a powerful vampire who wants nothing more than to have fun, and Integral, the one woman who can almost restrain him (God knows he just _can't_ be restrained) with a word. The greatest strength combined with the greatest mind, imagine the child that could be produced from such a union!

Would it be unfair of her to deprive them, or their country, of what could be the eternal protector of England?

__

Wait, wait! You're going too far, Seras! He kissed you_, not Integral. So that means whatever happened between the two, it's over and he's yours now._

At this realization, Seras was having the most euphoric moment of her life that not one drug could ever be compared to. God could have given her the galaxy, people could have made her millions of offerings, or the world could have ended with a snap and she would still be standing on her legs, contemplating the possibility of a happy, never-ending dream with Alucard becoming reality. If this is what it felt like to find out the slightest hope for love, imagine what it would do to finally have what she's been dying for?

Then, when she came back down from cloud nine, a thought struck her and her emotions were replaced by a slight frustration. It annoyed her that he kissed her, but she never replied.

It happened twice already and she had yet to enjoy it properly. Each time was only a mere peck on her mouth, as though he liked to cruelly tease her, and she never had the chance to show him the depths of her love for him.

Seras trudged into the corridor, bent on finding Alucard to give him a little bit of his own medicine.

Alright! I'm sorry if it stops a little roughly, I just decided to post what I had in my computer now instead of making you wait and believe I was dead or something. I wanted to continue it until Seras met Blake again, but unfortunately my schedule has been reduced to studying, going to school, work, and sleep (oh, oh! and annoy my sister too!) So… indulge me. Trust me, when my exams are over, I'll start writing more regularly. Give me another three weeks.

Special thanks to everyone who reviewed and said that I sucked for not posting sooner.


	7. The First Snow

Disclaimer: I do not own Hellsing.

A/N: (Cocks a gun to her temple) Heeheehee… Soooo tempting…

And here I thought I would have all the time in the world to write… Sorry I couldn't hold my promise. Ten goddamned month! I can't believe it myself! I suck and it's frustrating for everyone, I know. Feel free to bullshit me. I kicked my own ass to sit at the computer and write four pages in a row. See? You can kick my butt too!

Chapter 7: The First Snow 

8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8

Then, when she came back down from cloud nine, a thought struck her and her emotions were replaced by a slight frustration. It annoyed her that he kissed her, but she never replied.

It happened twice already and she had yet to enjoy it properly. Each time was only a mere peck on her mouth, as though he liked to cruelly tease her, and she never had the chance to show him the depths of her love for him.

Seras trudged into the corridor, bent on finding Alucard to give him a little bit of his own medicine.

8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8

As she searched out the mansion, Seras caught Walter bringing tea to Integral.

"Have you seen Alucard?"

"No, I haven't. But you can always ask Lady Integral. She shouldn't be all that busy, it's nearly time for her to take a break," he answered.

She retrieved the tray from his hands and smiled, "Good idea. I'll bring her tea at the same time. Take a break yourself, old man."

She left quickly, ignoring his protests, and took the stairs two at a time. The tray was held expertly in balance with one hand underneath it, not one drop of hot liquid spilled or a grain of sugar floated out of the pot. _I could have been a great waitress._

Knocking twice, Seras penetrated the illuminated study after hearing Integral's acknowledgement. The light forced the night-dweller to squint her eyes at the huge bay windows to try and find her way towards the shadowy figure of her boss. She noted absently the cloudy sky that foreshadowed rain for this frisky autumn day. Winter was slowly getting cozy in between rainy days and snowy days. Walter had even left a blanket for Integral to use.

She carefully deposited the tray on a free space of the desk, poured a cup of tea and set it in front of Integral who was too busy scribbling furiously on a report to look up.

The stern woman sighed and laid her pen down with relief, "Thanks, Walter. I needed a break."

"No problem."

Not expecting a female voice, she stared up at Seras and nodded in greetings, "Victoria."

She silently gestured to Seras to help herself to some tea, which she did, with the additional mug originally meant for Walter. Taking a tentative sip to make sure she wouldn't burn her tongue, a warm feeling crawled down her throat to her stomach and it left her content for no reason at all. She even took note, although subconsciously, of the warmth emanating from her cup starting at her fingers and sending sparks of fire throughout her now shivering arm.

Seras realized she had forgotten how good warmth felt when you were alive. She stared down at the carpet, saddened at the thought that she wasn't technically alive. But she sucked it in and deposited her mug on the tray, away from her, away from her depressive thoughts. She was determined not to be brought down today.

"How's the eye?"

Seras' head lifted and she noticed Integral wasn't even looking at her. The blonde just lit herself a cigar and blew the smoke towards the ceiling, relaxing with her eyes closed.

"It's fine, I guess. The itching has lessened and I think I feel it move from time to time."

Integral simply nodded and silence settled. Time slowed down, a change of pace that was very much appreciated by the both of them instead of the usually quick and stressful missions. Only this peaceful and quiet moment.

"Hmm, that's nice…" Seras mumbled gently.

"What is?" asked her boss, her voice equally, if not abnormally, gentle.

The former police officer gestured towards nothing in particular, "This."

Integral rose a delicate eyebrow, "Do you mean the silence due to Alucard's absence? Yes, you're right. It's simply refreshing…"

"No, no," she chuckled lightly, "Just this particular moment in eternity. Us, sharing tea with noobligations to attend to whatsoever. It's a rare event."

"Indeed."

Seras was rewarded with a tiny smile to which she happily beamed at.

"But only you have eternity to savour."

"Oh! I… I'm dreadfully sorry!" she quickly started apologizing, "I didn't mean to imply that…"

The Hellsing heir held up a gloved hand, "No, it's quite alright. I was only stating the obvious."

"Well, if you say so… But still…"

Seras picked up Integral's murmur with her sensitive hearing, "Feh, things are better like this anyway…"

"Huh?"

Integral merely sipped at her tea and lapsed into silence once again.

Why was everyone being so weird these days? Honestly, you'd think people can't help but mutter some nonsense at least once a day. Maybe she just never paid all that much attention to it before. Or perhaps Master's mischievous behavior was making her so aware of herself that she noticed things she hadn't before. She never was very perceptive to begin with and even now with her vampiric abilities she missed certain details.

"Tell me," started Integral deliberately slowly, "have you finally considered leaving Hellsing's combat unit?"

Startled from her thoughts, Seras immediately sputtered the first thing that came, "A-actually, no. I haven't-"

The short haired woman stopped herself.

Really? Had she _really_ thought about it? Did she want to be reduced to desk work and waste her nights doing paperwork? To remain in the same room where she would have no interaction with people, although her social was already limited to just a few acquaintances, all the while developing a nice cramp in her hand caused by relentless scribbling? Would she like to see the same study, to smell the same chemical odour of ink surrounding her all night long, and get her ass numb by sitting on an uncomfortable chair for hours on end?

The more Seras thought about it, the less she wanted to quit the combat unit. What could an ugly, brown indoor bureau offer to her compared to an exciting, adrenaline pumping, and refreshing outdoor mission? She didn't want to rot like a decrepit ghoul inside the mansion! She was young and vibrant, she needed to move around for the sake of her sanity! Besides, if she were absent during a mission who would protect the humans? Certainly not Alucard!

Nonetheless, it _could_ offer her some advantages. Less stress, less deaths, and less culpability. She wouldn't feel so disgusted about herself because soldiers would die before her in a moment of weakness. Mistakes she often made, stupid ones at that, cost people their precious lives on the cruel, violent battlefield and if she were to select office work there would be no more hard choices between life and death. Well, there are difficult choices to make but not by her anymore and that in itself was a great relief.

Still, on the other hand, she would still feel that weight in the pit of her stomach. She was sure, certain even, that it would remain there; representing the disappointment of many people, the knowledge that she, Seras Victoria, a second generation vampire born with the strength so many desired, that glorious strength bestowed upon her by Master Alucard, could have made a difference in the outcome of a fight. Her righteousness, no, her humanity prevented her from childishly blocking out her responsibilities. It told her to live her existence, _not her unlife but her_ _existence_, to its fullest even though it's hard and painful. And no matter how dark it seemed, she could always pierce through its blackness to bring back some light into her life. She just had to persevere every step of the way and never, ever give up.

"Well?" Integral prodded quietly at the lack of a response.

When Seras looked back at Integral, she was sure her boss saw the crystal clear resolution in her ruby eyes. They held clarity, a perceptiveness of truth they hadn't held for the longest time, instead of the clouded uncertainty and the acceptation of perpetual defeat or weakness. She had made her choice.

But, really, there was no choice to make. Escape reality and feel remorse forever, which in her case was truly forever, or suffer and be proud of herself. The former was unlikely to happen, she realized, when she thought about how Alucard might react, how disappointed and angry he would be of his only descendant, and not the mention the torture he would put her through to reconsider such a foolish act.

So, this wasn't much of a choice for Seras. It was simple, really.

"Wait, I lied. I did think about it, I just didn't know I had." This last sentence sounded illogical but it was true. She already knew the answer deep down herself. "I'd like to stay."

Integral, curious and perhaps not understanding her decision, asked the Hellsing agent, "But… why? Just not long ago you were practically bursting with aggressiveness and pain."

"True… but I hadn't realized how important protecting a person was to me. I also realized this was just an escape and I wouldn't have been able to live with myself knowing I had disappointed so many people, especially Master," Seras smiled although it seemed a tad bit sad, "You know how he is after all…"

The older woman's eyes narrowed, "Is this because of Alucard? Because if that's the case, I can assure you he will not overrule the proposition I offered you."

"No! Of course not!" she exclaimed quickly, "This is my very own decision. I don't feel forced to remain in the combat unit. No one pushed me to and I want to stay there."

Downing the rest of her mug's content and putting it back on the tray, Integral resumed her favorite posture to think and remained silent until, "Fine. I'm counting on you, agent Victoria."

Seras, all too happy, jumped to her feet and saluted her employer sharply, "Yes, sir!"

She thought perhaps they had reached a new level of relationship. Maybe not friendship, maybe not just work related acquaintances, but something in between. Integral wasn't specially a cold and cynical businesswoman. These were just necessary abilities to handle difficult situations in her line of business. She knew the importance of group moral and placed her trust well. Deep down the strong leader persona, Integral was an understanding woman who knew what was good or bad for her troops. She was truly fit to become the fearless leader of the Hellsing Organization.

"At ease, Seras. Now, was there something you needed? I assume you came to my office for a reason."

"Oh, yes!" she exclaimed as she sat back down, "I wanted to ask you where Master Alucard was. I know he said something about leaving for a mission but he's surely back by now."

"No, I sent him to Kingston so he could exterminate a troublesome infestation last night. He should be coming back tonight though."

"Oh…" she sighed, "Okay, then. Guess I'll talk to him later. Thank you, Integral."

She nodded, "Drink up the last of your tea and we'll resume our duties."

As she stood up, Seras' insides clenched angrily in hunger without warning making her bite back a moan and place a hand on her protesting belly. Impossible, she had fed just two hours ago. How can she be hungry again? Her tongue traced the contours of her lips on its own volition, desperately searching for blood.

The famished vampire took a deep breath and was convinced something smelled of fresh blood nearby. She raised her head, guided by her nose, and noticed Integral. Or more precisely, her throat. She could see the blue-green pulsing jugular underneath all that creamy, soft, and delicious white skin. Her irises shrunk and her canines grew longer and sharper.

_Just one bite… That's all I ask for… just a taste…_

"Victoria? Are you feeling well?" Integral asked warily.

"S-stay away! I think someone's messing with my mind and I don't know what might happen if you get any closer…" Seras' voice snapped although her face continued to stare at Integral like food.

How foolish of her! She should have been more careful! Master had said so. This happened once before and she wouldn't let it overtake her again. Seras tried to pull free from this mind hold but its grasp on her was too strong. Concentrating further on the invisible entity, she shoved thoughts and memories aside as it fled further in her consciousness. She finally lost herself, overwhelmed by her own past emotions, and stopped searching because she feared her body would act without her consent. The smell of blood was getting stronger and the idea of tasting it became more than tempting.

Integral, on the other hand, wasn't taking any chances. She withdrew her gun from a secured drawer and pointed it at Seras who was busy trying to calm down her senses. She moved towards the phone to call on Walter for help and make a parameter check up in order to find the intruder, her eyes trained on the police girl.

It took all of Seras' willpower to resist the whispered temptations her brain received and the sound of blood being pumped by Integral's heart. She felt her head buzz with sleepiness and it tried to weaken her rebellious refusal to drink but she shook it off, resisting her primal needs.

Unexpectedly, the hold on her mind was brutally released and Seras clutched her throbbing head. She knew something was wrong when she was freed from the mind control and, precisely at that moment, she looked up at Integral just in time to see two hooks attached to ropes flying towards the bay windows and, unmistakably, for Integral.

"Watch out!"

She jumped over the desk and shoved unceremoniously Integral on the ground. She was about to duck herself and protect her with her own body but just as got on knees, the windows broke into a million shards and sent them hurtling in the air, cutting skin and flesh, as the warmth inside the room escaped through the hole and was replaced by stinging coldness. The two grapples attached themselves onto her deeply in her left shoulder and in her right hip and pulled her back. For a fleeting moment, Seras and Integral looked at each other with wide eyes in realization of the situation, one in fright and the other in anger.

With an unseen force, Seras was lifted from Integral and thrown back. She screamed in pain as she held onto the frames of the window and crashed into glass that had yet to fall. She could hear the structure groaning as she clutched for dear life. The pulling became unbearable and her face scrunched up in concentration.

"Walter!" she screamed hoarsely, "WALTER!"

He busted through the double doors, out of breath and with his special gloves at the ready.

"Miss Victoria!" he exclaimed, "Are you…"

She cut him off, "Take care of Integral," she gritted her teeth at a particularly hard tug.

It dawned on Seras that something had to be done in order to protect her leader. She had a pretty good idea who it was outside and what he wanted. She was determined to foil his plans. Although this meant she would have to sacrifice a part of her that was very dear to her heart, she couldn't let him persecute Hellsing forever because of her. She would have to be brave for the greater good.

How silly she was.

Thinking she could save the day. Only Alucard seemed to be able to do so, although his methods left much to be desired, he did the job accordingly. She was scared witless and felt like crying pathetically. She wanted to hide behind her Master's red coat like a child and feel his disapproval but also his vampiric aura that made her feel so secure. She wanted to snuggle up to him when he would accept to hold her in his arms and never let go.

But she somehow knew that this was it. She would be forced to leave.

She really wished she could stay at the mansion.

She really wished she could have had that kiss.

Some tears gathered at the corner of her eyes and she added, "A-And tell him –tell Master Alucard– that I'm s"

Before Seras could finish, a third grapple rose into the sky and embedded itself in her stomach, making her choke and cough up a small amount of blood. Her grip loosened and her fingers slipped from the frames. She was finally jerked out of the room and felt as though she was flying. Her hand slowly stretched out before her in a desperate movement, a silent plea for help. She wanted to cry out in pain, in sadness, in denial, in resignation, in anything but found she could not. Her voice refused to work and her tears were now flowing freely down her cheeks. She thought she heard Integral calling out to Alucard, screaming his name repeatedly. It was useless, he wasn't going to come back in time, especially since it was day.

The impression that she was flying was suddenly broken when she fell through the nearby trees outside the boundaries of the mansion. Even though it was almost winter, they were still reasonably well bushy and the crispy leaves slapped and slashed mercilessly at her face. Hitting every branch possible, Seras ultimately crashed onto the cold, hard ground and she wheezed out the air that was knocked out of her.

She laid there on her back, looking at the white sky. She thought she saw something descending upon her, ever so slowly. Confused, she feebly reached out to catch it but it evaded her grasp and finally landed on her cheek. It was cold and after a while it turned into liquid and ran down the salty stream with the rest of her tears. More came, one after the other, until it was a never-ending rain.

It was… snowing.

An early first snow, in London.

"Peek-a-boo!" someone yelled in her face.

The magic dissipated and Seras jumped to her feet. Blake, unsurprisingly, stood in front of her in all his silvery glory. His light hair was held in a high ponytail today and his Armani-styled suit was strikingly white. His face etched a large smile with high cheekbones that hollowed his cheeks. His nose was thin and long that gave the impression that his face was longer than most people. As for his eyes, their color made his facial look even paler and they were mixed with glee and satisfaction.

She felt ire rise within her and an uncontrollable anger made her growl.

"Aren't you happy to see me?" he asked too jovially.

"Am I?" she replied quizzically.

Seras threw herself at him and, with aggressiveness she didn't know she possessed, she tore through his abdomen with a single arm. She enjoyed his sudden fear and the way he clutched and clawed at her forearm. Grinning from ear to ear, the angered vampress twisted her hand around his guts until she found his spine. She would make him pay for everything he has ever done to her and the future abuse she knows she will sustain. Just as she was about to crush his backbone to hear the satisfying crack, she was suddenly tugged away from him and the ropes of the hooks still buried in her flesh wound themselves around her until she was completely tied up.

Blake collapsed to the ground and the Asian girl from before was between the two with the ropes in her hands. She looked exactly the same as the last she had seen her except she didn't have her sais.

"Junko," Blake rasped.

"I suggest you stay away from my Master," the teenager mentioned as emotionlessly as always.

"Leave Sir Integral alone!"

Blake smirked despite his injury, "What will you give me in exchange? I'm warning you now, I'll accept nothing except for you to join me."

She closed her eyes in defeat as he said this. That's what she thought. He wanted her. And she would have to leave to ensure Integral's safety for now. Had Alucard been there, things would have turned out differently.

_It's not fair…_

"On one condition."

Junko quickly said, "Preposterous. You are in no condition to make demands."

"Let her speak," the wounded man interrupted.

"You are to never come back to these grounds and stay away from Hellsing's area of operation. That is all I ask and I shall come willingly."

His posture straightened a little and his face twisted into an awful expression of success. This is what he wanted to hear.

"Agreed."

Junko then proceeded to removed most of the ropes around her but kept her hands tied up. Following the smallest vampire she had ever seen, she spared a glance to Blake and was surprised to find a fourth person aiding him to get up and supporting his weight. He was taller than Blake and looked a little bit ragged if it wasn't for his unshaven dark blond beard and his disheveled, mid-length, blond hair. His thick eyebrows camouflaged his faded red eyes and his nose seemed truly fit for a man of his stature, large and pointy but not too much. His lips were thin and clearly defined with a cigarette dangling dangerously low. His complexion was far darker than theirs even if it somehow seemed lighter than it should be. This stranger wore a worn-out, brown trench coat, a black muscle shirt, loose jeans, a pair of black running shoes, and to top it all a black cowboy hat which seemed to have seen a fair share of action.

She vaguely wondered if he came from overseas or, more precisely, from America. After all, he was pretty tall, had a tan and his hair was a remarkably light shade of blond. She would bet he even had blue eyes before his turning.

He probably felt scrutinized under her gaze because he looked up at her and when he met her eyes, he glared at her with pure hatred. Startled at the intensity that lay in those orbs, Seras could only blink at his reaction and couldn't fathom the reason behind such grudge towards her. He disregarded her after a few seconds and adjusted his hold on Blake.

A tug from Junko's rope made Seras walk again.

"Let us go before they reach us," she pointed out when soldiers were starting to rummage around.

They set out quickly and ran further into the thick coat of snow that slowly erased headquarters from her sight. She bid farewell to Hellsing and foolishly hoped that Alucard would find her. She also hoped she wouldn't die too soon.

_Alucard__…I'm sorry._

A/N: I still don't know when the next update will be… But since my school is on strike maybe I'll be able to find some more time to write. I haven't forgotten about you guys! You are seriously the best!

Special thanks to: Vampire-obsessed-chick, Yami Dragoness, Tegasus, tsukino mesume, Moonlight Shadow1, Chiri, Errie Wyvern, Byakko, Lynderia, Xelena, Shadow of The Underdark, Kurama Girl, faith b, Anubis-Shinigami, Videl21, dipstick1, RuByMoOn17, The Princess of Darkness, Katsuhito Sage, Mizuko, Oscar Rose, Leigh4, Victoria, dragons, Fluffy's luva, No Name No Face, Miss B6, Lexxi, TheFantasyFreak, SilverGlaive, glendora wright, Alyson Metallium, Firenze, Mana-Kipagami, jubilation15, Fanfic Fan, Sonomi-chan, Kiyuu-Chan, Tiga, Angel-From-Hell7, Amaya, Omegazat, Amy, Tigris2, fei, Fanfic Connoisseur, 1-800-ALUCARD, Mourning-kun, Seras, SpaceVixon, sneazelburg, becky, Ashlee r, Thess, Lil Innocent Angel, Miscellaneous Penguin, Fujin Kazano, iluv2read, V.R.Wolfshadow, Baka Kitsune Chan, Alucardou, Nanie, angelyami, Akuma-sama, AxS 4ever, Shiko, Thalia Branwen, Atikkin, Aharah Musici, Iced Flame, unknown, Dirty Little Cat In Your Head, Sparrow, SHADOW, Zenni Caine, Roxanne Black, Joshua Glass, Verdandi24, Reesechan, Lost Lioncourt, anonymous, Siddhartha, Cerberus, alucardluvr, CC, Hoshi-Yuki, Crow Skywalker, DameNight, EnkiduFish, Ami-chan15, Lydia-Blessing, InuDemonGirl, yeth, and anyone else who read this story.

That's pretty much everyone, a big, huge, humongous thank you for telling me to update or else! Heehee!


	8. Getting Acquainted

Disclaimer: Hellsing does not belong to me.

WARNING: Erm, kind of a sexually related scene. Not for you kiddies.

Chapter 8: Getting acquainted

X

A tug from Junko's rope made Seras walk again.

"Let us go before they reach us," she pointed out when soldiers were starting to rummage around.

They set out quickly and ran further into the thick coat of snow that slowly erased headquarters from her sight. She bid farewell to Hellsing and foolishly hoped that Alucard would find her. She also hoped she wouldn't die too soon.

_Alucard_…_I'm sorry._

X

It was… easier than she thought it would be.

Leaving Hellsing, that is.

The fact that it was pretty much the only place she could call home had nothing to do with it. It was quite unsettling, really.

They had fled through the thick forest surrounding the manor and had reached a vehicle parked nearby. The stranger quickly sat Blake in the back who had been grunting from the effort of running, fastened his seat belt, and closed the door. He **bypassed **the car and stopped in front of Junko and her captive. Harshly, he grabbed Seras' elbow with a death grip and, to Junko, jerked his head in the general direction of Blake. He carelessly shoved Seras in the passenger seat and she had enough wits to fold her legs in the car before he slammed the door on them. When he heard his younger partner get inside the car, he ignited it and rolled down the street casually so as to not attract unneeded attention to themselves. While he drove, Junko was carefully tending to Blake's injuries.

In silence, Seras had watched the faint shadow of the ominous Hellsing headquarters disappear behind a curtain of snow with her enhanced gaze. Poof! Just like that. As if it never existed in the first place.

She could hear the rustling of paper and gauze and Blake's soft gasps that he tried to hold in. She wasn't sure, but she thought she also heard the driver growl deeply each time he shifted the car as though he was angry at her.

After rolling a few miles, Seras began to feel light-headed. She looked at her wounds and tried to slow the blood loss with no success. Her still wet eyes drooped of their own and her limbs became numb. Furthermore, the buzzing sound of friction between the tires and the road lulled her into sleepiness. Finally, she let herself go and fell into unconsciousness, uncaring about where she was going to end up.

X

Seras was still wandering in a sea of darkness when her subconscious noticed a change of pressure on her body as the car slowed down. Awake yet unaware, she realized she felt hands grabbing at her and a change in the temperature gave her goosebumps. The sleepy woman no longer had to wonder if she was in her dreams or in the reality because she was suddenly flying and met with the cold and wet compact dirt. She barely groaned, the sound muffled by the floor, and shuffled her legs more comfortably.

A harsh voice was screaming orders that her mind didn't want to understand. She heard and felt the rising intensity in it, almost violent. It wanted her to wake up so it could laugh at her.

Seras didn't want to wake up.

Because it would mean that she'd be face to face with her nightmarish reality.

That her treason would be real.

Ice cold water was splashed onto her face and Seras was startled into consciousness. She sat up feeling a little drowsy and very sluggish. Confusion settled on her young features and the ex-cop peered up at her captors, her lips slightly apart as though they ached to ask an important question.

"Welcome to your new home, princess! We may need to redecorate but it's still our very own mansion," said Blake with a flourish of his hand.

They were in a large cave where tunnels upon tunnels opened up at different heights. The rounded ceiling ended at the very least fifty feet high and, furthermore, there were two openings that led even lower into the ground. The floor was made of compact dirt and was sprinkled with tiny rocks that merrily dug into her delicate skin. Some of the large cavities had burning torches on both sides as though they traced the path to get from one place to another. The odd lighting in the giant room gave Seras the impression of a sick and parodied romantic dinner.

Seras attempted to stand up but Blake forced her to lie down with his foot applying pressure on her torso.

"Not so fast, birdie... I haven't shown you your room yet! I wouldn't want to tire you out after such a drastic move in!" he cooed gleefully.

"For a guy who was crying in pain not so long ago, you seem quite well recovered," Seras taunted him with a scratchy voice.

Unfazed, Blake grabbed her wrist and began to drag her across the floor without giving her the chance to stand up, "I'll show you the necessities and let you rest afterwards! You'll find it very accommodating to your needs I'm sure!"

As she was carried away by the enthusiastic master of the 'house', the blonde-haired woman caught a glimpse of Junko and the cowboy walking away; the Asian girl not even giving them a second glance and the tall man taking his time to light a cigarette and gaze despicably at her before leaving.

"Let's see! Here, we have the first bathroom. This is Junko's room, and this is another bathroom…"

Blake launched himself into a long monologue about every area and giving her hard tugs whenever he insisted on some special feature in one room or another. He also made sure to pull her over all of the protruding rocks, their sharpness slicing through her shirt and their tips glistening with her blood after each passage. Each time she tried to stand up on her own, he violently twisted her wrist and shook her from left to right to destabilize her.

By the end of the free tour, Seras' wrist and shoulder were aching terribly and her back was burning. He stopped in front of one of the basement's room, the thick door hanging barely onto its hinges and creaked painfully at every move. Inside the relatively small room, it was empty except for muddy walls and disgusting remains of dead bugs.

"And this, my dear, is your room! Of course, we didn't have time to buy you anything for your comfort since you didn't warn us about your moving in with us. So you'll have to be patient and endure for the time being. So sorry," he apologized jovially as though it wasn't that much of a big deal if there wasn't any coffee in the pantry for tomorrow morning.

The idea of remaining in this room all alone for days to come scared her. She was a fool to think she could handle this situation. She still needed someone to shield her from such occurrences, someone to be her pillow whenever she fell… She was hurt, hungry, tired, alone, and so, so scared. Where in England was she? Was it day or night? What was going to happen to her? Was Hellsing looking for her? And what about Master Alucard? What will his reaction be? Angry that she let herself get caught so easily or happy to finally be rid of his failure of a fledgling? Unbidden tears sprang in her eyes and her face spoke volumes of sorrow at the thought.

Was she… expendable?

Her aggressor lifted her chin with his finger after sitting her against the back wall, "Aww… my sweet, sweet princess… what's wrong? Crying already? But I haven't done a thing yet! Do you need some comfort first? Here, let me give you a hug!"

Blake eagerly dove for her neck with his arms spread out, but Seras angrily shoved him back from her, not amused by his antics, and he fell on his rump. Grabbing at his bandages, he sneered at her with a devious glint in his eyes as he stood up condescendingly.

Unsure of herself, Seras asked in a broken voice, "Will you really leave Sir Integral alone?"

He put his hand over his heart in all seriousness and bent slightly to her, "Of course, you have my word on that."

Seras almost believed him, searching for a tiny shred of good news in all of this. His posture, his words, his eyes, they all looked so real and genuine. She wanted it to be the truth.

What a trustworthy fool she was.

He suddenly grabbed her hair and pulled her head back as he placed each of his leg beside her hips and lazily sat on her, his second hand tracing the contour of her jaw and chin.

"You stupid girl. Did you really think I was after such trivial cattle? Miss Integral Wingates Helling? Oh, please!" he laughed, "I wouldn't even have half as much fun with her than you! The 'Woman of Steel' is too boring for someone like me! Besides, your curves are much more entertaining to look at."

He roughly grabbed her right breast through her shirt and kneaded it. She fought back but he only backhanded her when he released her hair and clasped her wrist together single-handedly.

"My lovely thing… What I truly want is you. All of you, body, spirit, and mind," he caressed her inappropriately, "until you are completely reduced to my personal slave and obedient doll."

Forcefully, he claimed her lips, swallowing her yells of protest as he started to get very intimate with her body.

_No…_

Releasing his hold on her arms, he ripped parts of her uniform which seemed to turn him on even more, ignoring her weak protests.

_No._

He began to work his hips onto her own, noticing his arousal straining through his pants at the prospect of raping her and still devouring her mouth that began to bleed when his fangs grew.

_No!_

When he released her trembling lips, he hid his nose into the left side of her neck where he promptly drew back when he smelled and saw her first marking. Snarling inhumanly, he finally bit into her right side as she screamed for death.

_NO!_

A burning and searing pain exploded in her head as something broke inside her mind.

He sucked on her virginal blood feverishly, trying to widen the holes by biting further into her soft flesh, and kept on rubbing himself onto her with more strength than was necessary while her body involuntarily slackened and was disgustingly bouncing lifelessly at his actions.

Seras thought she had finally died when his touching unexpectedly stopped. Her mind had gone elsewhere for a fraction of a second and came back.

Junko had ripped Blake from her and stood between the two. She seemed to try and reason calmly with her master. The words were lost to Seras as she stared ahead, in shock. After much arguing, Blake left enraged with blood still dripping from his chin. A grey blanket was carelessly thrown over her and Junko also stepped outside the room without so much as a glance, leaving the newly acquired weapon to cope with her near rape and her very real new ownership.

The battered girl slid sideways from the wall and roughly landed on the floor. Her eyes were wide with fear and sorrow. She assumed a foetal position and hugged her knees.

Silence.

X

Dull and rusty coloured-eyes cracked open.

Seras didn't remember falling asleep. But somehow, as though it was a vampiric instinct, she knew day had turned into night. The side on which she had slept on was numb and uncomfortable. She started sitting up but her burning back refused to let her rise more than a few inches and she gave up by slumping back on the cold, muddy ground. Just then, her stomach growled softly in her ears. It seemed even her hunger wasn't strong enough to emit a louder noise.

The traitor of Hellsing felt destroyed and utterly defeated. She had tried calling her Master, her true Master, and had only received a buzzing sound that gave her terrible migraines. In vain, she had mentally called over and over, harder and harder. Desperate, she yelled his name in her empty, rocky cell, sharp echoes striking right back at her as if they condemned her further for her actions, until her voice was reduced to a rasp.

_He_ never responded. And, she feared, he would never, ever answer her again.

She pitifully laid there for minutes, hours, barely registering the passing of time; conscious but always the same train of thoughts running through her mind. Her hunger was gnawing a hole through her stomach but she didn't care. She oddly believed that she deserved such pain. Many times, she thought about getting up and running away from this wretched place, but, every time, she never moved a finger to follow the idea. And she went back to thinking how much of a failure she was if her Master didn't want to answer her pleas.

After a while of this vicious circle, she was suddenly aware of the presence of another person when a small pair of feet stopped in her peripheral vision. Seras wanted to look up but thinking about the simple effort of lifting her head left her more tired than the actual motion would have made her. And so, only her eyes traveled up to see the white calves of a young child. A bucket was dropped near her face.

"Drink," ordered the monotone voice.

The japanese accent made the word sound more like 'dlink' than 'drink' but it gave away who the owner of such an accent was. Seras didn't react and Junko presumed the older girl wanted to know what it was.

"It is fresh blood from this morning. Drink it."

Seras had to try twice before her vocal cords finally croaked out, "…M'not hungry…"

"Do not be ridiculous. You need sustenance," came the high pitched answer.

Seras simply closed her eyes as a sign of denial, too weak to say anything more. Junko grabbed Seras' front shirt and righted her carelessly against the wall, ignoring the hiss of protest.

"It is our master's order to have you fed. Drink. Now," she said more forcefully, a hint of annoyance in her tone.

Angry at the presumption that she would submit to Blake's will, Seras lowly remarked, "He's your master, not mine."

Junko could care less as she shoved the bucket right under her nose. The reaction in Seras was instantaneous. Her heart rose in her throat but there also was a distinct sweetness in the smell that made her mouth water. Her trembling hands rose to take hold of her meal. The asian girl let her take it and tentatively let go. Seras slowly raised it to her lips but then she sluggishly threw it to the side, all of its contents sloshing on the floor.

A small frown appeared on Junko's face.

"You are a stupid woman."

She dipped two of her delicate fingers into the ruby liquid, smeared them across Seras' lips, and licked the digits clean. She left afterwards, uncaring that Seras was not going to eat.

Seras resisted the reflex of licking her wet lips but her body pleaded for her to have just a taste and, finally, a hesitant tongue darted out. A terrible hunger awoke itself and her tongue moved of its own volition. It searched every crevice, every corner for more blood. Her nose directed her to the spilt vitae and the famished girl threw herself on the crimson puddle and licked the floor feverishly, almost possessed.

The taste was incomparable to the blood packs she used to take. It was lukewarm and preservative free. It was sweeter than chocolate and bitterer than wine, a strange mix between the two although it was a little pasty because of the mud. After, she switched to the bucket and tried to suck all that remained. When there was nothing left, the exhilaration diminished and Seras was breathing hard, her light cuts healing away with a puff of smoke.

Her stomach mildly satisfied, a light-headedness overcame her, the aphrodisiac quickly getting to her head, and once again, she succumbed to sleep but not before cocooning herself around the blanket.

She never wondered where the blood came from.

X

It had been a week since she had arrived in this cave. She has never left her room since her arrival. It wasn't because she didn't want to. Heaven knows she would kill for a shower… Actually, the battered door that looked like it would fall down any minute was tightly shut. Probably held by an invisible force. Oh, she had tried tearing it down but she was awfully weak. They kept her underfed, obviously. She tried resisting the call for blood but being so deprived of nourishment made her crave for it.

Tonight she had an interesting visit from the cowboy vampire. It was rather awkward. She woke up with an empty stomach and sore muscles. She had expected to see Junko with her nourishment but to her surprise she saw nothing except a tiny ring of red light that flared up unexpectedly in the darkest corner of her cell. It lowered itself then after a moment it moved back up and flared up again.

"Um… hello?" she greeted in the shadows.

At her voice, the figure walked into clearer view and she recognize it as the third member of Blake's little team. She realized the glowing red ring was a cigarette as he blew out smoke.

_A smoking vampire… That's strange in itself._

The young vampire was rather intimidated by his presence. His height was imposing and his glaring eyes made her feel oppressed. Why was he so hateful towards her? She hadn't done anything yet! She remained silent, afraid to even ask his name. And besides, he was the one who came to her. He probably had something to tell her.

"Jack," came the low voice.

"…Excuse me?" she asked perplexed.

"My name, it's Jack."

"Oh," she answered dumbly.

He seemed rather reluctant to be here. It was as though someone forced him to see her and introduce himself. And he bluntly told her his name without any greetings. He probably wanted this to be over quick. But other than that, he remained silent. Minutes went by and he hadn't moved an inch except to take a drag on his cigarette.

After a few moments, she couldn't stand any more of this waiting game and decided to blurt the first thing that came to her mind, "Why do you smoke?"

Seras felt like slapping her forehead in stupidity. What kind of question was that!

Surprisingly, he answered her.

"It…cuts the hunger," he explained uneasily.

Finally, someone who showed some emotion around here! Junko was getting tiresome.

Gingerly, she held her stomach and asked, "D-does it work?"

He carelessly threw his half-emptied pack at her with a yellow lighter. And as though he had had enough of her, Jack left with one of his glares. Taken aback by his hasty departure, Seras collected the items. Curious and naïve, she tried one.

Nothing happened. Was she doing it the right way?

Half-way through the cigarette and after some coughing accidents, the inexperienced smoker was getting light-headed and let's just say, a little buzzed. Sick of it, she botched it. She didn't understand how Jack could smoke that. It smelled awful and tasted atrociously bad.

Although the hunger had mysteriously disappeared.

X

A/N: Sorry for the terrible wait… And that chapter was more like a filler. I haven't re-read it so there might be some mistakes. I really wanted to post this the earliest possible. I received a review after a good while and it reminded me that my fic was pending. I smacked my head on the desk.


End file.
